Warriors:Split path
by havocqueenofdarkness
Summary: Princess feels drawn to the shadowy forest and aches to become a wild cat due to the stories she had been told. Snowflake her littermate who has been having prophetic dreams told by a black cat an wishes to uncover the secret of them. Jake seeks to become strong and stop being the weakling he's known as. However something is stirring in the forest,something Dangerous.
1. Prologue

The night was chilling. Not as cold as the sun rises before but still cold enough to see one's breath fog in the air. Leafbare was ending, and soon new leaf would be beginning.

The icy snow would slowly melt away and reveal the greenness beneath and prey would once again be plentiful.

Raggedstar sighed fluffing out her thick fur. Pushing past the lichen of her den the she-cat made her way to the entrance of the clan murmuring that she was going hunting to the two warriors guarding the camp.

Owlclaw offered to go along, but the she-cat simply brushed past her and mewed softly that she needed some time alone and would be careful. Leafbare's snow was already beginning to thin but a layer of white covered the forest. Careful as she stalked as to not make much sound and frighten away any prey, the she-cat spotted a scrawny mouse near an oak. Dropping down into a hunter's crouch she began to move forward eyes trained on the small creature. A cool breeze swept across the forest and Raggedstar felt a memory began to resurface from the familiarity of it all.

Raggedfur made her way to the nursery, a mouse firmly clamped in her jaws. Pushing past the lichen that covered the opening of the nursery she padded over to her sister eyeing the three kits near her sister's belly.

Nightfang murmured a thank you as she set the mouse before her and began to gobble it down as quickly as she could. Raggedfur watched silently.

"What did Badgerfang say?" She mewed watching the kits her eyes narrowing at the orange tabby tom that so closely resembled his father. The cause of this problem.

Nightfang sighed. "The kits should be able to make the journey as long as we are quick if we take too long the kits will…."

She went quiet.

Raggedfur sighed."Nightfang...are you sure you want to do this?"

The Queen was quiet for a few heartbeats before mewing " I have no choice.."

"Nightfang you do have a choice, allow shadowclan to fight those CloudClan scum we are strong," The shadowclan deputy mewed tail flicking.

Nightfang only shook her head. "Raggedfur you and I both know that is not the case, ShadowClan is weak at this time, leaf bare has taken a strong toll on us, this fight is not worth the bloodshed.I will not allow the lives of this clan be wasted for my mistake,"

Raggedfur bristled but she knew her sister was right. Prey had been scarce and a few cats had gained green cough, they were in no state for a battle.

They were silent for a few heartbeats each watching the kittens both thinking different things.

"They would've made great warriors," Raggedfur murmured.

Nightfang sighed an agreement and got to her paws "Let's go, I don't want to keep Cream waiting,"

Grasping the tom by the scruff she pushed out of the nursery and into the cold clearing.

Raggedfur grasped the last two, a black she-cat that closely resembled her mother and a white she-cat who reminded her of….

She stopped her thoughts not wanting to remember the pain from several seasons ago and instead followed after her sister both kits clutched by the scruff.

Tigerstripe ducked her head as they padded past her, although the loyal warrior was against what they were doing she understood. She was one of the few cats Raggedfur could trust with this secret which was why they had her as a guard on this specific night.

"Be careful" The she-cat whispered.

Stepping out of the camp Raggedfur quickened her pace behind her sister. Like Nightfang had said it was silently worried for the kits, only feeling relieved when the two leg place was in sight. Nightfang quickly bounded up the fence and disappeared onto the other side followed by her sister.

Cream was waiting for them by the oak tree. The young she-cat got to her paws and signaled to them with her tail to follow her. Raggedfur was a bit adamant to step inside the twoleg den but forced herself to anyway knowing the leafbare temperature would be dangerous for the kits. Inside it was warm. Placing the kits on the soft kittypet bedding that seemed to be made of fur the deputy watched as cream curled herself around the litter as to warm them up.

"They're beautiful," The she-cat mewed eyes shining with motherly love. Raggedfur saw her sister's icy blue eyes flash.

"I'll take care of them," Cream assured the two.

Nightfang only nodded and touched noses with the creamy she-cat muttering a thank you. Placing her tail tip against the shoulder of the no longer queen to soothe her, Raggedfur gave the kits each a lick on the head.

The kits began to latch on to cream and suckled hungrily. The she-cat had recently lost her own litter so she was still full of milk, the kits would not starve. She was happy to have a litter although not her own she would raise them no differently.

"I'll name the white one snowflake, and the black she-cat princess," Cream murmured using the names she would have named her own litter had they survived. "The tom will be jake,"

Raggedfur narrowed her eyes and gave a swift nod, and with that the clan cats left, pushing past the opening the invisible wall left. They almost missed the warmth of the two leg den but puffed out their fur and began the journey back home. The walk back was quiet each reveling in what they had just done. The deputy could feel that her sister was hurting inside having just lost her own kits. Did she regret it? What would she have named them had they been in the clan? Was she thinking now that she should've instead fought for her kits?

Sometimes Raggedfur wished she could read her sister's mind. The black she-cat hid her emotions behind a mask making it difficult to see how she felt at times.

Eyes staring up at the full moon Nightfang spoke softly her sister having to strain her ears to hear her. "I would've named Snowflake, Snowkit for her white fur that is rare amongst shadowclan, Princess would have been Darkkit like the shadowy forest her fur resembles, Jake would have been Sunkit because his fur shines like that of the sun."

Raggedfur listened to her quietly as the she-cat's body shook as she dug her claws into the ground.

"Jake looks so much like his father," She muttered."But I know that he's different,"

It felt like Nightfang was talking to herself now.

"They would've been great clan members, I just know it, if only….."

The black she-cat sighed and continued on her way. "If only their birth wouldn't have costed bloodshed,"

"This….this is the only way to protect them….."

Raggedstar delivered a swift bite to the mouse killing it. While in the midst of her hunt the she-cat hadn't noticed that she had come upon the same fence in her memory. Would the kits still be there? They would be of apprentice age now.

She resisted the urge to see the kits, instead, Raggedstar looked longingly at the fence before turning away and made her way back to the camp.


	2. Chapter 1

The whispers of the forest echoed in her ears. Snowflake strained them once more trying to catch the words uttered softly from the shadows. Her icy blue eyes scanned the dirt path before her that seemed to go on forever. It was the only thing not covered in the inky blackness like the trees.

When her continued efforts to make out the hushed words were futile, the she-cat flicked her tail in annoyance. Deciding to follow to dirt path she began on her way hoping that it would lead somewhere.

The snow white she-cat was familiar with this unusual place, it had been appearing pretty often in her dreams for the past few sun rises. The trees of the forest loomed over her, reaching up to the starry sky. For some reason, the trees were shrouded in a black mist that danced like flames around the bark. The shadowy stuff is where the whispers came from but it was hard to see through it to pinpoint who was talking. A silver moon hung in the sky illuminating the path but leaving the blackness untouched.

Once before snowflake had tried to enter the shadows curious as to what was in them. She wondered that if she were to enter the mist, would she be able to hear the voices more clearly?Who would be on the other side? However, her questions were not answered, as soon as she had lifted a paw and tried to enter she woke up.

The dream didn't stop appearing even after that, touching the mist was a way to wake up faster to get out of the dream, but once snowflake went back to sleep, the forest would appear again. It felt as though the dream itself was waiting for something.

"But what?" Snowflake thought as she continued down the back to the words she had managed to hear the sunrise before.

The second time snowflake appeared in the dream she spent most of the time listening to the shadows managing to catch a few words, of which puzzled her.

"Darkness-" one voice would mutter.

"The clans!" came a louder mew.

"Only the prophecy can save them" another meowed calmly.

After that, the whispers became harder to hear. Harder to understand, and by the third time of appearing here the best way to find out while she was having this dream seemed to be following the path.

gIt seemed as though the path itself was not as neverending as she thought it was after a while of came upon a great stone illuminated by the moonlight, the smooth edge shone like silver. It was the end of the the stone sat an unfamiliar cat whose fur was like the but shining with stars within the pelt. It was really beautiful.

Who was she? Snowflake had never seen a cat in her dreams before. Was she one of the voices that whispered from the shadows? Maybe she would know why snowflake kept having this dream.

However before she could take one paw step towards the cat, it chuckled softly.

"You've finally arrived…" the figure murmured voice calm like that of a breeze.

"I've been waiting a while for you,"

"You were waiting for me?" snowflake asked confused padding closer to the silver stone eyes narrowed." Who are you?"

The she-cat only chuckled again but this time it sounded…...sad.

"That kitten," her ice blue eyes shone reminding snowflake of her own eyes. "Doesn't matter,"

Snowflake flicked her tail annoyed at the lack of an answer.

Her eyes….they look so much like mine….the white she-cat thought, But they're so empty…

The black she-cat stared at her and snowflake shuddered and when she spoke again her soft voice was tired.

"I thought I could keep you from all of this," she murmured eyes clouding." But my efforts were in vain, because of my mistakes you will suffer,"

Snowflake was unable to catch what she had said.

"Snowflake" The white she-cat jumped in surprise, how had the other known her name?

The black she-cat moved closer blue eyes boring into the other's ."This is very important you may not understand now but you will soon,"

Clearing her throat the she-cat's voice rang out, ancient.

"The storm is not the enemy look past it's threatening roars to the beast who controls it with claws of the forest, follow the trail of red and the shadows shall rise and fight alongside the light to loosen its grip,"

"What does that mean? Why are you telling me this?" snowflake asked a shudder passed through her body at the chilling words.

The shadow cat didn't say anything only looking at her with a look of sadness and longing. Everything around her was beginning to fade to black.

"Look for my sister Raggedstar she will help you understand, look to her for guidance one of three will be lost but worry not they have a different path than you, nothing can stay the same forever,...Snowflake, Princess, Jake…." came a soft murmur

"I'm sorry,"

Why did this dream feel so real?

…

Princess awoke abruptly, irritated. Something had woke her right before her claws could dig into the squirrel she had been sighed. Her hunting dreams were always interrupted before she had the chance to enjoy them.

Snowflake thrashed besides her before waking with a gasp.

Princess bit back a grumpy remark worried for her littermate. "Hey, are you okay?"

The white she-cat didn't answer, instead, her icy blue eyes gazed into princess' glazed over.

"Snowflake?" princess tried littermate blinked at her for a few moments.

"Princess?" she murmured "Why are you awake?"

Princess resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Your thrashing woke me up, I'm surprised jake's still sleeping with all your moving around,"

Snowflake blinked again drowsily still reeling from her dream."Oh,"

The black she-cat studied her sister ear flicking."It must have been a really bad dream, do you remember any of it? And why were you staring at me like that when you woke up? Like you saw a ghost?"

Her sister's eyes weren't looking at her anymore and were instead staring blankly elsewhere.

"It's nothing, you just reminded me of some cat I saw recently,"

Princess cocked her head in was obvious that her sister was holding back something and it made her want to push for more information, however, before she could ask more Jake's tired mew interrupted her wiping the question from her mind.

"Princess, snowflake is something wrong?" He mewed yawning.

"No it's nothing," Snowflake murmured stretching and getting padded towards her water bowl."Go back to sleep,"

Jake only yawned before curling up and falling back asleep.

Princess sighed before getting up and stretching. She cast a look at her sister who was now staring into the water. She looked deep in thought. Although princess wanted to try and get more out of her she realized pushing her littermate for more information wouldn't be a great idea. Snowflake would only snap at her and be in a bad mood.

Her littermate would tell her when she was ready. Licking her paw and running it over her ear princess decided to go outside for some fresh air. It felt stuffy and too quiet right now. Padding towards the glass wall that the house folk left open she pushed through the opening and took a deep breath of the air. It was a cool day and the twirping of birds was comforting. It was refreshing out here.

She quickly made dirt beneath a bush and made her way to her favorite place near the oak. The shade was comfortable as ever princess couldn't describe the feeling but she felt at peace: beneath the shadow as it wrapped around her and shielded her from the began grooming herself feeling in the house she felt cooped up, but when outside the feeling would seep away and she'd feel so different. More relaxed and at peace.

The rustling of something made princess freeze in her grooming ears strained. The sound came again and her eyes gazed around the yard for the source.

Her amber eyes landed on an unaware squirrel who was nibbling at a nut.

Princess moved quietly being careful not to alert it that she was there.

Eyes narrowed she made her way towards it, the shade was useful in hiding her so even if the squirrel managed to turn her way she doubted it would see her.

Princess felt excited as she moved closer, her mouth watered as she thought of tearing into the squirrel, this moment was perfect!

Now she was just a few mouse lengths away…

"Snap!"

Princess swiftly cursed and bolted at the squirrel, but she was a few moments too late as the second it had heard the twig snap it made it's way to the fence in a mad dash.

The black she-cat followed determined to get to it before it got to the fence and escaped.

She was so close that the tail brushed her nose. Princess lunged prepared to feel fur beneath her claws.

"Gotcha!" she yowled.

Instead, her head met the fence and red flashed in her mind from the looked up and the squirrel stared back down at her with beady eyes as though laughing at her.

Princess gave a hiss at it, her body burning in embarrassment, the squirrel responded with a flick of its tail before disappearing onto the other side.

Princess sighed glaring at the spot where the squirrel had debated on giving chase but she knew it would be futile.

Disappointed she turned away and padded back to the house pushing through the opening and stepping into the kitchen where her food and water bowls stuffy feeling returned.

Snowflake was waiting for her.

"Are you okay?" The white she-cat murmured."You slammed into the fence pretty hard,"

Princess shrugged " I'm fine, but I can't believe I let that opportunity slip away, that squirrel was nearly in between my claws!"

Snowflake pressed her tail tip against her littermates shoulder as she lapped up the warm water, with its weird bitter taste.

"You'll catch it next time,"

Princess sighed once more.

"You always say that and "next time" is always ruined by me making stupid mistakes." she murmured. "I just really want to catch prey rather than eat these rabbit pellets."

Snowflake only looked out at the seemed to echo in her ears."Nothing stays the same forever"

Jake stretched nearby his sister."I don't see why you hunt anyway," he yawned."Our house folks give us all the food we need!"

Princess snorted."These rabbit pellets are hardly food they have no taste and no sense of accomplishment to them,"

She flicked her tail.

" I want to have the thrill of a hunt and taking the life of prey knowing that it's well deserved because I worked hard to kill it instead of just being given something" she murmured. "Aren't you tired of just sleeping and eating? Don't you just long for more?"

Jake blinked at her in surprise.

Princess gazed at the forest. "Like the clan cats in the forest,"

"The c-clan cats?"Jake mewed."The savages?You want to be like them?"

His sister shook her head."How do we know that their savages?They could be nice,"

The tom's fur bristled"Remember angel's stories?They attack and kill other cats for pleasure!"

Princess huffed."How would that old fur brain know? I doubt she has even met a clan cat, all her stories are just gossip,"

Jake sighed he knew when princess set her mind to something it was hard to change it.

"Do...do you really want to be a wild cat?" he murmured."Would you leave us to do that?"

Princess only placed her paw against the window door."Maybe….we can't always be together and, It seems more interesting than here, I feel..so much more at home in the forest,"

She often dreamed of the forest and living in its dark depths.

Snowflake glanced at her sister. She too felt cooped in the house going outside was like entering a new reminds me of that black she-cat from my dreams…..Could that cat have been from the forest she didn't seem like any other house cat I've met before…..

Snowflake sighed she didn't feel like thinking about that dream anymore she needed something

to distract her.

"Hey let's go play hide and seek" she tried to divert the two from their conversation.

Princess was immediately distracted getting to her paws in excitement."Hide and seek?With me, the master?" She boasted.

Snowflake rolled her eyes and purred in amusement."You?The master?I don't quite remember that but I DO remember the true master being me after all, neither one of you could ever find me."

Jake huffed."I never find either one of you"

Princess flicked her tail and purred."That's because you're so loud and clumsy,I bet every house cat can hear you coming"

Her brother gave a twitch of his whisker."Oh yeah?Well I'll show you!I'll be as quiet as a mouse and quick as a heartbeat this time,you two won't know what's coming when I find you!"

Snowflake only snorted rolling her eyes and flicking her tail,she began on her way outside calling over her shoulder"Then you're first then start counting"

Princess followed after her eyes scanning the area as she searched for a space to hide.

Jake huffed again before turning his back to the opening and beginning to count.

…..

"I thought you'd find me in a heartbeat?"Princess purred to her had fallen, the trio had been playing for hours, taking turns seeking each other,play fighting, and any other game to pass the time.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that you were hiding in the shade of the oak?Your dark pelt makes you hard to find!" Jake muttered.

"Oh hush princess"Snowflake mewed"After all neither one of you could find me, But I was able to find you two in a heartbeat"

Princess flicked her tail and rolled her eyes. "How do you even do that?Your white pelt should be the easiest thing to pick out next to jake's orange pelt!"

Snowflake only shrugged not willing to reveal any of her secrets.

Jake whined softly."That's not fair you two find me so easily, just because of my stupid orange pelt,"

"It's not stupid"Snowflake corrected giving a lick to his ear as she padded into the house."If anything it's beautiful, I wish I had it, your pelt shines like the sun when sunlight hits it and it,"

Jake only shrugged and avoided her eyes."I guess,"

They ate in silence filling their bellies with the bland food before curling up with each other in their bedding muttering good nights.

…..

Princess awoke suddenly. She blinked scanning her surroundings for the source of what had woke her up. Jake and snowflake were sleeping peacefully so it couldn't have been them and there was no movement in the house so her house folks couldn't have been the ones who woke her. Her eyes gravitated to the door that led outside. The forest was hard to see in the darkness of night however, some of the trees were illuminated by the full moon that hung in the sky.

The black she-cat got to her paws careful not to wake her siblings and moved towards the door. It was still open, the housefolk must have forgotten to close it. Princess slipped through the opening and padded outside. It was quiet.

Why had she come out here?

There was a nearby rustling immediately catching her froze as she spotted the squirrel from before once again nibbling at a nut.

She lowered down in a crouch eyes trained on the small creature.

She would not fail this time princess would catch her prey.

Princess moved forward slowly minding anything on the ground that could alert the squirrel.

I'm really close this time, she thought. I won't mess up!

Unfortunately, the squirrel bolted towards the fence stunning princess she was sure that she hadn't stepped on anything!But she wasted no time in giving chase determined to not let it get away this time.

Even when the squirrel managed to reach the fence and disappeared onto the other side she only followed momentarily forgetting about her siblings and what lay in the forest in the thrill of her hunt.

The forest was dark but princess' eyes quickly adjusted never leaving its target. She could almost feel the creature beneath her claws. Feeling that it was time princess lunged hoping that she wouldn't mess up this filled her when her when her claws dug into flesh.

Delivering a swift bite to the squirrel killing it princess felt proud of herself.

She couldn't wait to show her siblings!

Then princess remembered. She was in the forest.

She blinked. It was as dark as she thought it would stretched high to most of them covering the earth was wet and marshy unlike what she had felt before.

Wow….Princess thought. It's much more beautiful than I ever imagined.

A sudden bark and yowl broke the peaceful atmosphere.

"Stormpaw watch out!" A voiced hissed.

Another bark.

What was a dog doing in the forest?A house folk must have lost them.

"Hollowpaw!"

Those cats seem like they were in trouble!And they sounded nearby!

Princess covered her prey with dirt and followed the noise.

It seemed to be getting was barking, hissing, and growling.

Princess worried if the cats were okay as she quickened her of dogs roamed the houses and she and her siblings had faced at least two she knew how dangerous they were but they had managed to chase them off using some of the tricks cream had taught them.

When princess broke into a clearing she could see the dog barking as it pawed at a had the cats gone? Had they escaped?

There was a sudden hiss."Go away!"

It was coming from the tree!They must be hiding there!

Princess rushed towards the dog hissing her fur on end and claws unsheathed.

She managed to slice her claws down the leg of the large beast who whimpered in pain before turning on her.

Princess cringed in disgust at the slobber the dog had coming down its jaw. She puffed up her fur making herself look bigger and slashed at its nose. The dog gave a howl of pain and reared back.

The two cats stepped out looking relieved for a second until they saw her.

"What's a kittypet doing here!" The gray and why she-cat called out in surprise.

"It doesn't matter help me get rid of the dog!"Princess meowed back.

"How?"The brown tabby could tell that the two had been dealing with the dog for a while they looked tired but didn't seem to be injured.

"Just surround it and claw at the face!"

The gray and white she-cat only hissed."I'm not taking orders from a kittypet!"

The tabby however only nodded and joined her the dog seemed confused on who to attack first and went for princess, jaws snapping.

She dodged and retaliated by slashing at its face once tabby managed to strike its eye forcing the dog to whine in pain.

The dogs tail fell in between its legs and the giant turned hide and ran away into the forest disappearing from sight.

Probably back to its house folk princess thought.

The tabby beside her relaxed."Thank StarClan it ran the opposite way of the clan,"

Starclan?

He turned to her blue eyes shining."Thanks, I didn't know kittypets knew how to fight dogs"

Princess shrugged."I've come across a few my mother taught us how to fend some of them off, most of the time when you go for the nose they'll leave you alone"

"Hollowpaw don't thank that kittypet!"The gray and white she-cat spat.

Hollowpaw as the tom was called only shook his head."Stormpaw it would be rude not to if she hadn't helped us and scared away that dog we most likely would've joined starclan by now"

Stormpaw hissed at him."We could've handled that dog by ourselves we didn't need some pathetic she-cat to help us"

Princess rolled her eyes and flicked her tail "Oh yeah you were handling that dog alright, more like you were cowering like a cornered mouse"

The she-cat rounded on her clawing her ear.

Princess flinched.

"I'll show you!"Stormpaw spat."I won't let some stupid kittypet make a fool out of me!"

Princess rolled out of the way just as stormpaw lunged claws unsheathed.

"Hollowpaw help me get rid of this she-cat,"Stormpaw ordered

The tom looked stunned for a second before shaking his head."No, i refuse stormpaw I'm not going to help you fight some cat who just helped us do it on your own,"

She scoffed at him."You're nothing but a soft heart!Are you even a shadowclan apprentice?Or are you a kitty pet like her?"

Hollowpaw bristled but refused to answer.

Stormpaw turned her glare onto princess."Fine since that soft heart won't help me I'll just send you back to your house folks mewing to them for help,"

Princess hissed."If it's a battle you want, then it's a battle you'll get!"

Stormpaw bared her fangs and lunged once more this time princess was ready she dodged and bit down on the she-cat's tail tugging at it and forcing and dragging the other back. Then with the other underneath her went for the scruff and began to shake her.

Stormpaw twisted beneath her using dislodging princess' grip and using her back legs to shove her up.

Quickly stormpaw got to her paws and raked her claws down her opponents face taking the moment to pin princess when she flinched.

"Oh look the kitty pet thinks she can overcome a shadowclan apprentice"stormpaw sneered."I'll show you the life of a clan cat!"

Princess didn't respond instead hissing in anger.

"Princess!"

With stormpaw, momentarily distracted princess batted at her soft belly with her back legs.

The she-cat quickly released her taking this moment princess slammed her paw down on the others head and while she was dazed began swiping at the others ears.

Snowflake watched the battle in sister fought hard unlike which the other had even seen before even in they were play took a pawstep forward ready to help her but a tail stopped her.

"Don't interfere" he murmured eyes wide."That she-cat is handling stormpaw fine...I've never seen a kittypet fight like that before…"

Snowflake was too stunned to answer, instead of watching this new cat that seemed to be in the body of her sister.

…

Jake woke groggily to a paw prodding him.

"Wake up jake"snowflake hissed.

He yawned."What's wrong?"

"Princess just went over the fence we need to go after her"

The orange tom was fully awake."Wait she went into the forest?She could be ripped to shreds?"

Snowflake rolled her eyes."Well, why do you think we're going after her?"

"W-wait we're going in too?"The white she-cat hissed."Yes of course we are!"I'm not about to let her stupidity get her killed, now cmon!"

Jake shook but got to his paws following his sister out into the night.

He hesitated at the fence.

"C'mon jake we need to find princess before those cats do!" snowflake rushed."Quit being mouse and hurry up,"

Deciding on his lost sister and her safety rather than the cats that could kill him, jake clawed his way up the fence and jumped down to the other side.

Trees loomed over him casting dark close to his littermate, jake briefly wondered if the wild cats were hiding in the darkness.

"I found princess' scent .."Snowflake murmured eyes scanning the area as they padded deeper into the forest. "She went deeper in here than I thought, That mouse brain!When I get my paws on her I'll give her a good cuffing!"

Jake was snowflake's harshness at times, she really cared about her was really worried about princess, The black she-cat was well known for being stubborn at times.

"Do you know why princess ran into the forest?" he murmured to his sister stiff and on edge.

"She was chasing a squirrel,"snowflake huffed.

Jake sighed worriedly. He hoped she'd caught the squirrel and was on her way home. What if she had encountered those clan cats?

He'd heard from daisy that they were highly territorial and didn't take well to cats hunting their prey, and it being princess' first catch she was very likely not to give it up easily. What if the clan cats had killed her because of that?

He winced at the thought.

"Snap!" jake jumped in surprise knocking into his sister and accidentally pushing her over.

"What was that!?"

Snowflake hissed as she got to her paws "You stepped on a twig fur brain!"

Jake blinked at her feeling his fur go hot in gave his chest a brisk lick."Oh"

Snowflake sighed."Maybe you should go back home, your fear is making you clumsy and at this rate, all the noise you're making will summon the clan cats from how loud you are!"

He wanted to argue but he knew it was true, he'd only be a nuisance so jake only nodded."I'll wait for princess back at home, please be careful,"

Snowflake nodded and continued on her way into the shadows."I will don't worry I'll be back with princess before you know it,"

Jake watched her go feeling ashamed. He always felt like a nuisance, always scared of everything often or not princess or snowflake would have to soothe away his fear. He really wanted to help find his sister, but jake knew he would only cause more trouble than once more at the place where snowflake turned away and began on his way back home.

Jake felt uncomfortable in the dark forest something was just so off-putting about it. He didn't like being alone here as he made his way back. Everything just looked so big and scary….

Every Time there was a scuffle of the leaves or any unusual sound he would freeze and eye his surroundings hoping that it wasn't the wildcats coming to kill him.

Sighing softly jake followed the scents that they had made hoping that he would reach home quickly so that he would be safe from the forest and curled up in the soft soft, soft bedding.A yawn caused jake to remember how tired he was, and he momentarily forgot the forest. Thoughts of home and sleep.

There was a ruffle of leaves nearby that cause jake to jump and spin froze, felt like everything had frozen itself, quiet and focusing on the rustling bush.

It rustled waited eyes wide.

A mouse jumped out nose twitching as it scurried out of sight across his felt himself relax and began to groom his standing was being foolish. Being scared of a little mouse.

Suddenly a question rose in his mind.

Who had made that large rustle if it had been just a small mouse?

Curious as the bush rustled once again jake moved blinked as blue eyes stared back at him. It hissed and jake found himself flat on his back a tom standing over him with bared teeth and unsheathed claws.

Jake cowered. It was a wild cat!

"Hunting in shadowclan territory kittypet?Don't have enough food fed to you by your two legs?" The tom mocked."I'll make an example of you to the other kittypets to not set paw in our territory again!"

Jake flinched as claws raked down his batted at the others belly with unsheathed claws forcing the cat before him to recoil in order to not let his belly be injured. Getting to his paws jake ran blindly. Forgetting all about following his sister's scent and focusing on trying to escape the tom on his tail.

He could feel teeth nipping at his tail tip and with great effort pressed onwards.

"You won't escape me without a few scars kittypet!"

Suddenly it was quiet. There wasn't the sound of paws pounding after him anymore. Jake stopped on edge searching the area frantically for the tom as he panted.

Where had the other gone?

And where was he?Jake noticed that the area he was in was no longer familiar. Snowflake's scent was long backed up keeping his back to a tree. That tom could be anywhere in the shadows.

Another bush spun around and hissed at it fur puffing out, silently hoping to scare off the wild cat.

"Leave me alone!I don't want any trouble,!" He hissed. "I'm going back home and I won't put another paw in your territory again!"

There was a mrrow, and the tom's voice called from somewhere in the darkness.

"You think I'll just let you go?Just like that?" the tom meowed coldly."If I just let any kittypet go without a scar or two you'd just keep coming back!"

"I won't!" Jake pleaded trying to pinpoint the voice.

Another bush rustled.

"And you think I believe you?"The tom mrrowed in laughter was bitter "I don't think so, if I let you go and you go and tell your fellow kittypets about it, they will think that shadowclan is full of a bunch of soft hearts, and try to take over our territory!"

"We don't the want that,"Jake needed to keep the tom talking so that he could see how close he was and predict the best escape route.

"No matter how much you try kittypet I'm not letting you leave without teaching you a good lesson, after all, we gave you kindness before and you only turned it on us, I won't let that happen to my clan again!"

The tom burst from the bushes and slashed at jake's face. The orange tom hissed from the sting of pain that dug into his ear briefly as the tom used his hold to toss Jake to the side.

Jake could feel warm liquid running down his injured couldn't win this fight. This cat was too the cat had thrown him away from him giving jake enough time to run again.

There was an angry hiss. Jake pushed on. He could see a path ahead.

He was far from home, he'd never seen the path before but he didn't dare stop and face the tom chasing after him, wrath.

Jake panted. He was tired. He couldn't run orange tabby tom could feel himself slowing down. Fear gripped him when he saw an orange cat racing towards him. He closed his eyes and prepared to feel claws sinking into his fur.

However, there was a hiss and a slight brush across his ears jake opened his eyes spinning around and watching in amazement as the orange tabby tom easily pinned the blue tom baring his teeth in the others face.

Jake could see the fear in the eyes of the blue tom's mixed with hate as he stared up at the cat who pinned him.

"What's this?A ShadowClan cat in CloudClan territory?"The orange tom snarled."Perhaps I should set an example of you,bluepebble for the rest of ShadowClan,"

Bluepebble struggled beneath the tom hissing and spitting forcing the tom to release him. He scurried towards the forest.

"You're of luck kittypet!"The tom spat angrily over his shoulder "But remember, set paw in shadowclan territory again and I'll shred your ears!"

"Should you step paw in CloudClan again BluePebble I'll show you the claws of the greatest warrior of the forest!"The orange tom yowled back amber eyes watching the blue tom as he escaped.

Jake felt relieved when the blue tom turned tail and disappeared into the it was soon replaced with fear when he realized he was now in greater danger. He was left alone with a large tom who had simply managed to intimidate the tom that had been chasing him no problem. The orange tom turned to him making jake stiffen and get to his paws, ready to run he wasn't able to take on

"Bluepebble" there was no way he'd be able to take on this tom.

"Calm down," An orange tabby tom meowed sitting and curling his tail neatly around his paws."I'm not going to attack you,"

Jake blinked at him with wide looks just like me!

Yet the younger tom didn't didn't know if the tom was just like the other tom and was just playing tricks on him so that he could claw his eyes out.

But with muscles like that, I doubt he needs to play tricks! He could rip me apart in a twitch of a mouse's whisker!

The tabby tom's broad muscles rippled from beneath his orange pelt.A large scar was stretched across one of his front legs.

He was definitely more intimidating that the other clan cat.

"How do I know you're not lying?"Jake mewed with narrowed eyes.

The tom simply shrugged and flicked his tail."You'd just have to trust me,"

Jake relaxed but kept the tom in his sight.

"Look I don't mean any trouble, I was just going home,"

The tabby tom had a strange look in his amber gaze as he observed the tom before him.

"Well, you seem far ways from home"He mewed."The twoleg place is way in shadowclan territory not here in CloudClan,"

He gave a nod to the shadowy forest on the other side of the dirt shuddered as he looked back. He wanted to go home but the threat of the blue tom still rung in his ears, he didn't want to even breathe next to the forest.

"Well, I'd be home if that tom hadn't chased me here,"Jake mewed.

"So then why didn't you fight?"The tom meowed in question.

The younger tom bristled. "Fight him?! That cat would rip me to pieces!"

The tom's whiskers twitched.

"So instead you ran away like a coward?"

Jake flinched from the word.

"W-well what else was I supposed to do?Try and fight him when I have no experience in fighting and get torn to shreds?"

The tabby tom before him got to his paws and made his way to jake.

"If you had the experience I'm sure you could have taken on that cat no problem and even switched the battle to be in your favor so that you'd be the one chasing him rather than the other way around,"

Jake blinked at him."M-me?Chase him?That tom was much larger than me,"

The tabby tom shook his head. "Size doesn't matter, any one of CloudClan's apprentices which are the size of you could have easily fought him off," He meowed proudly.

"Really?"Jake mewed eyes wide in surprise.

The tabby's whiskers twitched again."Of course, CloudClan IS the strongest clan in the forest, we're known for our strong brave warriors and never backing down from a fight"

"Wow," jake was impressed. Were these cats the strongest in the whole forest?

The tom nodded."And I bet if you joined we could make you into a strong, brave warrior too,"

Jake was surprised. Could they turn a coward like him into a strong cat like the one before him?

I wanna be brave and strong he thought digging his claws into the ground.

And these cats could teach me how to become like tom looks so strong and powerful, I bet all the other cats are scared of him. If I join them I'll never cower from anything again!

But what about princess and snowflake….I can't just leave my littermates….

Princess' words rang in his ear. Nothing is together forever.

I couldn't just abandon them, they're all I have…...

Thunder roar watched the tom before looks just like me...could he be?

"Come I'll take you home," he mewed.

"Wait we're going back through there?"

The large tom only purred."Yes it's the only way back to the twoleg place, don't worry about the ShadowClan cats, I've been itching for a good battle so if I come across some I'll send them back to their clan with their tails between their legs,"

Jake only nodded impressed by how the other was so bold and proud of his own abilities and followed the tom.

"What's your name?"Jake mewed curiously.

"Thunderroar,"


	3. Allegiances

**ShadowClan**

 **Leader-** Raggedstar-Dark brown she-cat with white chest and paws with green eyes

 **Deputy-**

Tigerstripe-Black tabby she-cat with white muzzle,belly,paws and green eyes

 **Medicine cats/apprentices**

Badgerfang-Black and white she-cat with yellow eyes

 **Warriors**

Eagletalon-Large brown and white tabby tom with amber eyes

Hawkheart-Large brown and white tabby tom with blue eyes

apprentice-Hollowpaw

Owlclaw-Light brown she-cat,with white chest and paws and green eyes

apprentice-Stormpaw

Frostflower- gray and white she-cat with blue eyes

Maplestorm-Orange red tabby tom with green eyes

Shadewhisper-Black tom with white chest,paws,and jaw with green eyes

apprentice-Ratpaw

Scorchfur-Black and orange she-cat with green eyes

apprentice-Snakepaw

Amberblaze-Orange tabby tom with amber eyes

Bluepebble-Bluish grey tom with blue eyes

Lakeripple-Bluish grey she-cat with green eyes

 **Apprentices**

Hollowpaw-Dark brown tabby tom with blue eyes

Snakepaw-White tom with patches of black and black tail with green eyes

Ratpaw-Brown tom with amber eyes

Storrmpaw-Gray she-cat with white paws and chest with green eyes

 **Queens**

Foxtail-Red she-cat with green eyes and bushy tail

 **Elders**

Longclaw-Dark gray with unusually long claws

Robineyes-Red and white she-cat

 **StormClan**

 **Leader-**

Breezestar-Mottled gray tabby tom with white paws

 **Deputy**

Badgerstrike-Black and white she-cat with green eyes

 **Medicine cats/apprentices**

Otterfoot-Brown and white tom with green eyes

Dewberry-Gray and white tabby she-cat with blue eyes

 **Warriors**

Rubbleclaw-Large dark brown tom

apprentice-Bluepaw

Oakbeetle-Black she-cat with patches of brown

apprentice-Sandpaw

Russetpool-Reddish brown tabby tom with green eyes

apprentice-mudpaw

Maplesplash-Orange yellow tabby tom

Swiftbreeze-Orange and white tom

Mothbelly-Silver gray tabby she-cat green eyes

Cherryfrost-Reddish brown and white she-cat

 **Apprentices**

Mudpaw-Dark brown tom

Sandpaw-Light brown tom

Bluepaw-Black she-cat with blue eyes

 **Queens**

Wildbee-Yellow tabby she-cat

Lionpelt-Yellow tabby she-cat with white belly and paws

 **MistClan**

 **Leader-**

Rainstar-White tom with large gray spots

 **Deputy** -

Swiftfire-Orange and white tom

 **Medicine cats/apprentices**

Spidercloud-gray and black tom

Silverpaw-Silvery gray tabby tom

 **Warriors**

Snowpool-white tabby tom with green eyes

apprentice-Hawkpaw

Smokecloud-Sleek black tom with white paws and chest

Falmefeather-Orange tom with amber eyes

Firebounce-Orange and white tabby she-cat

Lostfang-gray she-cat with fang missing

Cloudflower-White she-cat

apprentice-Splashpaw

Webshade-silvery gray tom

apprentice-Goosepaw

Talloak-Tall brown she-cat

Thundersneeze-Light orange tabby whose sneezes seem to shake the forest

apprentice-Brownpaw

 **Apprentices**

Goosepaw-Mottled gray and white tom

Brownpaw-White and brown tabby tom

Hawkpaw-Dark brown tabby tom

Splashpaw-White and gray she-cat

 **Elders**

Cloudyeye-Grayish tom with one eye clouded

Crookedtail-White tom with a tail that moves unusually

 **CloudClan**

 **Leader**

Blizzardstar-mottled silver tom

 **Deputy**

Roseclaw-Reddish brown she-cat

apprentice-Daisypaw

 **Medicinecats/apprentice**

Hareflight-Light brown tom

 **Warriors**

Weaselthorn-Brown and white she-cat with white paws

apprentice-Fallenpaw

Leopardpounce-Spotted brown she-cat

Daisyheart-Pretty cream she-cat

Wildfur-Kinky furred cream she-cat

Thunderroar-Large orange tabby tom with amber eyes

Goldpatches-White she-cat with yellow orange spots

Hazelfur-Light brown tom

Ashstorm-Mottled gray tom

apprentice-Sootpaw

Beetleflight-Lithe black and white tom

Jayflight-Gray tom with blue eyes

apprentice- Antpaw

 **Apprentices**

Sootpaw-White tom with black spots and tail

Fallenpaw-Reddish brown tom with green eyes

Antpaw-Reddish brown tom

Daisypaw-Pretty cream she-cat with blue eyes

 **Queens**

Graysky-Gray and white she-cat

 **Elders**

Thrushheart-Dark gray tom

Acornpool-Brown and white she-cat

Cats outside the clans

Princess-Black she-cat with amber eyes

Jake-Orange tabby tom with amber eyes

Snowflake-White she-cat with blue eyes


	4. Chapter 2

Princess pinned stormpaw baring her teeth in a snarl, raising her paw ready to slash her unsheathe claws against the other's face.

"That's enough,"The black she-cat froze the fear that had been in the green eyes of her opponent had shifted to a look of smugness.

"Raggedstar," Hollowpaw murmured in surprise.

Raggedstar?Snowflake thought. Isn't that the name from my dream?

A dark brown she-cat with a white chest stepped out of the shadows into the moonlit clearing. Claw marks stretched from one of her eyes, along with a large scar on her chest that parted her fur. Her piercing green eyes stared into princess'. Muscles rippled beneath her brown pelt as she made her way towards them.

This cat was powerful. A black and white she-cat followed behind her pale yellow eyes bored as she scanned the clearing. An unknown emotion lit up in her eyes as they landed on snowflake before being replaced once more with a bored look.

Stormpaw scrambled beneath princess forcing her to release her as she got to her paws and fixed the black she-cat with a smug look.

"You're in trouble now kittypet,"The gray and white she-cat purred glared at the cat her paws twitched wanting nothing more but to slash Stormpaw's face.

"You should've run when you had the chance," Stormpaw boasted. "Our leader Raggedstar will rip you to shreds!"

Snowflake eyed the brown she-cat, she did look strong the scars she had were proof of her many battles. The white she-cat unsheathed her claws and made her way slowly to her sister. She was willing to fight to protect her littermate if the cats decided to attack.

"Silence Stormpaw," the brown and white she-cat meowed looked taken aback."Go back to camp,"

"B-but what about this kittypet?"Stormpaw stuttered.

"I will handle them, "Raggedstar mewed smoothly. "Now get back to camp you two will be dealt punishments when I return,"

"W-what but we haven't done anything!" Stormpaw protested.

Green eyes flashed and Raggedstar hissed. "Nothing wrong?You two snuck out of camp and taunted a dog at the Twoleg place which followed you close to the camp and nearly killed you!Had that she-cat not fought it off you would've surely joined StarClan!"

Stormpaw flinched and looked down as she shuffled her paws.

" . "

She nodded and padded slowly past the brown she-cat her head down. Princess felt bad for her for a moment until she remembered the stinging wounds the other had inflicted. Hollowpaw padded after her glancing back at princess before disappearing into the shadows.

The black she-cat bristled. She felt too worn out from the recent battle if the two cats decided to attack her she wouldn't be able to defend herself.

Raggedstar was quiet for a few moments examining the two before her calmly. "What are your names?"

Princess narrowed her eyes debating on whether or not she should answer. "I'm Princess and this is Snowflake"

"Don't worry I will not attack you," Recognition flashed in her gaze before being replaced with pride."I see,"

"What about her?" Princess mewed nodding to the black and white she-cat.

Raggedstar flicked her tail. "Badgerfang is a medicine cat, her job isn't to fight but instead, heal injured and sick cats,"

Princess nodded and relaxed. Snowflake was quiet watching the two warily. Though the words from her dream echoed in her ears.

"Great then we'll be leaving now,"Snowflake mewed turning to leave."Sorry for intruding in your territory, it won't happen again,"

"Wait," The white she-cat stopped in her tracks. Wrapping her tail neatly around her paws the brown she-cat gave a nod to princess.

"I wanted to thank you for fighting off that dog and defending my apprentices,"

Princess couldn't hold back a purr and puffed out her chest basking in the praise."It was no problem,"

Snowflake rolled her eyes knowing that her sister's ego was inflating bit by bit.

The brown she-cat's whiskers twitched in amusement her eyes shining.

"I'd also like to say that you're battling skills are impressive for a kitty pet who taught you?"

Princess' pelt grew hot from the praise. "Ah, no one it just…..kinda came naturally, once that she-cat attacked me,"

"I'd like to apologize for that,"Raggedstar mewed."Stormpaw owes a debt to you for saving her life,"

The pride in the other's eyes was unusual as she looked at Princess.

The black and white she-cat seemed to be staring at her. These two were unusual. Snowflake wanted to leave.

"Which brings me to this," Raggedstar murmured. "You are strong and I'd hate to allow such a good fighter to go to waste,"

Princess and snowflake were shocked.

"J-join your clan?"Princess meowed eyes wide.

The brown she-cat nodded."At first sight, I didn't even know that you were a kitty pet, From the way you fought it seemed as though you were a clan cat,"

Snowflake noticed her sister's eyes light up in excitement."Are you serious?"

Raggedstar glanced at the white she-cat."Yes,"

Snowflake shaking her head to clear it. A clan cat had just offered her sister to join their clan! By the clear excitement in her sister's eyes, she knew the she-cat felt as though this was a dream come true. After all, Princess often enjoyed the stories of them told by daisy and cream when they were kits.

"Well if Princess is being offered a spot in your clan I'd like to join too"Snowflake mewed would not let her sister go alone in a clan of wild cats, there was no way princess would reject such an offer and if she was going then so was she, Besides who knew what kind of trouble she would get in?

Princess gazed at her in shock.

Raggedstar flicked her ears and gave the white a she-cat a look."You don't seem like a fighter,"

Snowflake shook her head."I'm not but I refuse to let my sister join your clan all by herself,"

"Snowflake I can handle myself!" princess murmured."Just go back to the house folks!"

"If I may interrupt"

Everyone's eyes looked at the black and white she-cat."Raggedstar she doesn't have to be a warrior she can be my apprentice,"

"A medicine cat?"Snowflake questioned the black and white cats instead of fighting?Could she be like the vet their housefolk took them too when they were sick?

"Could we think about it?"She meowed.

Raggedstar nodded."I'll await your answer next sunrise"

"Thank you, c'mon Princess jake's waiting for us" Snowflake black she-cat blinked before following her littermates.

They could feel eyes burning into their pelt as they disappeared into the princess turned away from her littermate and bounded off in the opposite direction than snowflake.

"Princess," snowflake hissed tiredly."Home is this way!"

"I know I just have to get something wait there!"Princess called back.

She came back a few moments later a squirrel clutched in her mouth. Snowflake sighed as they began padding back home. She felt tired and irritated.

Relief flooded her when the fence came into view. Together they hopped onto the other side. They squeezed back into their home. Once inside snowflake spun around and hissed at her sister.

"What were you thinking!"The white she-cat hissed. "Disappearing into the forest for a SQUIRREL, fighting a dog!?Then fighting a clan cat?!"

Princess only shrugged excitement shining in her eyes.

She dropped the squirrel before mewing. "And I'd do it again"

Snowflake bristled. "You could have died!"

"But I didn't," Princess meowed proudly.

Snowflake batted her littermates ears claws sheathed. "That's not the point!" She yowled.

"You shouldn't have gone into the forest,you're lucky to be alive,"

Princess shrugged again licking a paw and running it over her ear. "I don't think I would've didn't you hear what the clan cat leader said?She said I fought like a clan cat!"

This was going in one ear and out the other…..Snowflake thought.

"And I'm going to join that clan,"Princess meowed staring into her sister's eyes."Whether you want me to or not in that forest I felt…...felt like I belong. You can join me or stay it doesn't matter,"

She picked up her squirrel and brushed past her sister ending the conversation.

Snowflake relaxed with a sigh. She knew there was no way to change the other's mind. Her blue eyes glanced at the moon sadly. Nothing stays the same forever a voice whispered to her. It's time to face your destiny.

Destiny? Snowflake thought. What destiny?

She was starting to think that dream was more than just that.

The white she-cat looked at the forest once again. If my destiny is to join princess in the forest and become a wild cat then...so be it. Jake will be fine here. I'm sure.

She made her way to their shared bedding noticing that princess was there happily devouring her squirrel.

Jake was looking at his paws with an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

He had scratch marks on his face and body. His ear had been nicked terribly. Had he been attacked on his way back?

"Jake?" Snowflake murmured."Are you okay?What happened?"

She shouldn't have left him on his own to make his way back. If he had been attacked there was no doubt that he was scarred.

There's no way jake would be able to make it out there with us…..He's too weak and timid as much as I'd hate to say it.

"On my way back I was attacked,"He murmured confirming her suspicions.

Snowflake began to lick his wounds.

"Are you okay? How'd you get away? I knew I should have let you stay with me, I could've protected you from this,"

Jake pulled away from her.

"I'm fine another cat fought off my attacker and showed me the way home," he mewed avoiding her gaze. "Don't blame yourself snowflake it was for the best,"

"A clan cat helped you get home?"She blinked at him in surprise."Oh well I'm glad you're okay,"

Her littermate was acting looking at her in the eyes, moving away when she got close…...She wondered what was wrong with him,

He's never done this thought surprised Everything is changing already…..

"Yeah, they aren't as mean as I thought they were…..I heard what you said about going into the forest,"

Snowflake blinked at him."Yes, well the leader of the cats in the clan asked Princess to join their clan, and you know princess will join them no matter what, and I refuse to let her go by herself…..so next sunrise….I will be leaving with her. You should stay with the housefolk. "They'keep you safe."

Hurt flashed in his amber eyes.

"I see," He murmured "I'm going to sleep,"

Princess momentarily glanced at him pausing from her squirrel. "It would be for the best jake, these cats are vicious and strong,you're…..you know, not the vicious fighting type, We'll come visit you sometimes okay?Now do you want a bite of my squirrel,"

His ear flicked.

"There's no need to pout," she meowed

The white she-cat's belly grumbled in hunger.

She hesitated for a moment before curiosity took over and she took a bite, and with that single bite, she could taste the was nothing like anything she had tasted before!She couldn't help herself, devouring the rest in order to keep the flavor on her tongue. When she was finished she it over her lips trying to catch any leftovers.

"Good night," Princess yawned didn't say guessed he had fallen asleep.

And so snowflake fell asleep the taste of squirrel still resting on her tongue which ached for more.

For the first time, snowflake slept peacefully with no interruptions.


	5. Chapter 3

"This is goodbye I guess," Snowflake murmured to her brother. "I'll miss you, but it's for the best that you stay here Jake,"

Princess only purred. "You'll be fine I'm sure that there are plenty of cats to play around with you, Remember what cream said anyway we wouldn't be together forever!"

Jake only nodded curling his tail around his paws neatly.

"I understand, just don't forget me okay?And be careful, I can't force you to stay here and if you'd rather be in the forest then like cream says to follow your heart,"

"We'll be fine" Princess mewed her claws dug into the earth as though she was picturing it was something else. "I'm strong and snowflake will keep me in check like she always does!"

Snowflake nodded. There was a strange look in her brother's eyes mixed with sadness.

"We probably can't meet with you again after this, but' we'll remember you" She promised. Jake didn't say anything and watched as they climbed the fence.

"Bye, Jake!" Princess yowled before disappearing onto the other side.

Just as Snowflake joined her she could've sworn she heard her brother.

"We will meet again, when I grow stronger I'll show everyone that I'm no longer a weak kit,"

But the words were so unlike her brother she thought they could've been somebody else.

Snowflake felt sad to be leaving her littermate behind but it seemed to be the best choice. She couldn't help but look back as they disappeared into the shadowy forest.

The shadowy forest was just like the night before. Trees loomed overhead dark and foreboding their leaves illuminated by the moonlight. Princess seemed to know her way despite having only traveled the path once. The dark she-cat almost absorbed by the shadows stalked forward knowingly amber eyes staring straight ahead. She didn't seem to be missing her old life already having moved on now that her dream to join the wildcats was being fulfilled.

The thought of home had snowflake heart aching in sadness and shorter than she'd hoped they were in the clearing. Raggedstar was staring up at the moon illuminated by its silvery powerful she-cat twitched her ear before turning towards them.

"Have you decided?" She mewed running her eyes over the didn't hesitate meeting the she-cat's gaze with determined amber eyes.

"Yes," she mewed confidently."I wish to join your clan,"

Snowflake however hesitated. Life in the forest was going to be hard unlike her easy life of simply waiting for the food to come to her and not having to fight for anything. Was she willing to throw away her non-threatening life for such a threatening one?There were chances that she or princess could die…..and yet she couldn't find it in herself to refuse. The taste of squirrel although a meal from the night before made her tongue tingle. It had been unlike anything she ate before, and after eating it devouring the rabbit pellets they'd usually eaten sudden became hard to swallow unlike the taste of forest that came with the prey.

She found herself staring at the stars feeling as though someone was looking down on her from them. Something felt so right here amongst the darkness with the scent of dirt and plants, each paw step felt like familiar as though she had been here before.

Swallowing any doubt she previously had the young she-cat took in a deep breath.

"I also wish to join,"

Raggedstar nodded eyes shining an unusual emotion in her green eyes.

"So be it, The clan may not accept you at first we are a proud clan,Though I warn you that warrior life will be hard and if you find it challenging you man run back to your soft kitty pet life, but know that this opportunity will not be offered once again,think of this as a test to see if you're are worthy enough to survive in our clan" Raggedstar mewed gaze hardening. "You will have to work harder to fit in, but I have no doubt you two will succeed,"

"Don't worry I'm sure we can handle whatever you throw at us,"Princess assured brown she-cat's eyes softened for a split second before she turned away.

"Of course, follow me,"

She waved her tail before disappearing into the undergrowth princess hot on her tail. Snowflake released a sigh aware of the choice, before following.

"The clan may not accept you at first," Raggedstar mewed over her shoulder. "You will need to gain their trust, we are a proud clan and don't usually accept in outsiders, especially kittypets, as the life of one is looked down upon,"

"But why offer us a place in your clan then?" snowflake asked.

"Because you exhibit great potential of which will strengthen my clan, to let such potential go to waste would be mouse-brained,"

She means princess exhibited great potential I didn't do anything Snowflake thought as she observed the older shoulders were broad, strong muscles rippled beneath her pelt along with several scars.

So very unlike she and her sister who had no defining muscles and were pudgy. Would she and her sister eventually look like that after living in the forest for so long?

Raggedstar held up her tail slowing them to a walk. The long distance was enough to make snowflake and princess pant, so unused to running like that. Sniffing the air the young she-cat could recognize the scent of several cats of which she exchanged a look of nervousness with excitement with her sister who was basically bouncing on her paws in excitement.

Snowflake rolled her eyes.

"We're here," Raggedstar announced. "I want you to follow me,"

They nodded as they came upon a bramble tunnel guarded by two cats. Raggedstar padded through acknowledging the two with a flick of her ear. Princess followed while snowflake kept her pawsteps slow as she eyed them. She made eye contact with a gray and white she-cat who gave her a questioning look which she returned with a shy shrug before quickening her pace. Eyes burned into her pelt as she pushed through the bramble tunnel.

Her jaw dropped as she took in the other side, the clearing was covered in shadows yet her sharp eyes could make out the cats within the darkness. They sat together grooming, eating or simply just napping. Several eyes turned on the small group curious beginning to murmur.. Raggedstar stopped them at a large tree with a low hanging branch.

"Wait here," she ordered before clawing her way up to the tree and settling on the branch.

"Cats old enough to hunt amongst the shadows gather beneath the large oak."Raggedstar yowled.

The murmurs began to increase as several cats gathered around the two.

Stormpaw sitting among the crowd did not look happy to see Princess baring sharp teeth in her direction while Hollowpaw simply looked curious as to why they were there.

A black and white tabby she-cat settled on a stump next to the great oak sharp green eyes observing them.

"Cats of ShadowClan,I have decided to allow these two join our clan,"She started. Immediately there was protest.

"What?Kittypets join ShadowClan?"Some Cat yowled in surprise.

"Have we gone weak to allow such an occurrence?" Another growled."We don't need soft bellies among our clan!"

Raggedstar fixed her gaze on a defiant blue tom with a large cut in his ear and a scar running over one wondered what could have happened to him. "Bluepebble who are you to speak? Do you forget that you share the blood of a kittypet, and yet you are one of ShadowClan's strongest warriors?"

The tom shut his mouth glowering.

"What will other clans think of this?"

"They will think us pathetic to ask for help from these kittypets!"

Raggedstar held up her tail making the crowd lower down to murmuring.

"Last night I observed two of our apprentices foolishly provoking a dog near the Twoleg place which attacked them,"She paused allowing the information to sink in as she ran her eyes of each and every cat. Princess noticed that Stormpaw looked away from her to instead shamefully stare down at her paws shuffling them. A sense of satisfaction rushed through her. "One of these kittypets jumped in and managed to fend off the dog while one apprentice cowered in fear of her own mouse-brained mistake,"

The crowd muttered to each other in surprise, while Stormpaw seemed to want to sink into the earth.

Raggedstar continued. "I fear had that she-cat not interfered when she did that StarClan would have accepted two cats that night," She flicked her tail towards Princess. "And even after their lives had been rescued that cowering apprentice thought it was it was in her best interest to fight the very cat that saved her life of which the kittypet managed to come out on top,"

Several cats perked their ears up in surprise of which Raggedstar nodded. "And although it may seem foolish to some to allow a kittypet amongst our ranks I'd say it would be even more foolish to allow to allow such a promising cat to go to waste, or worse allow another clan such as CloudClan to gain another strong warrior to use against us,"

The camp was silent.

"But what about the other cat?What has she done to join us?"

Murmurs rose once froze she knew they were talking about wasn't a good fighter and honestly disliked doing so unless it was necessary so how would Raggedstar get them to accept her like they had Princess?She hoped the crowd couldn't smell her fear scent.

Though she felt relieved when the black and white she-cat from the night before stepped forward beside the tree.

"She is to become our medicine cat apprentice,"

The reaction was worse than before.

"A kittypet for a medicine cat?"

"Those lazy soft hearts couldn't help themselves!"

Snowflake felt her fur bristle, she was NOT lazy.

"Silence!"Snapped the she-cat her tail tip twitching. Badgerfang pinned the crowd with a fierce glare.

"If you have any problems with Starclan's choice you can consult our ancestors on their choice,"

Dead silence.

She snorted."That's what I thought,"

Raggedstar twitched her whiskers obviously amused."Now without further argument, I will assign our new apprentices their names,"Her eyes stared down at the two.

"Princess, will you uphold the warrior code and be loyal to your clan?"

"I wil,l"princess meowed proudly.

"Then from now on until you receive your warrior name you will be called Darkpaw for your pelt is like the shadows of our forest,"

The leader's eyes roamed the camp landing on a large brown and white tabby tom.

"And your mentor shall be Eagletalon, Eagletalon I hope you pass on your strength and wisdom to this apprentice,"

Shock flashed in the tom's amber eyes before dissipating into a glare full of hatred. Princess- no Darkpaw felt her excitement melt away to be replaced with fear.

"What is the meaning of this Raggedstar!" he spat. Unmoved by the tom's anger Raggedstar simply curled her tail over her paws and met his angry gaze calmly.

"She is your apprentice Eagletalon I have assigned her to you for a reason"She mewed cooly. "It is time you let go of your hatred and move on, this she-cat has potential which you can turn into a strong warrior"

Eagletalon bared his teeth eyes blazing before turning away and pushing through the crowd disappearing into a burrow with a flick of his thick tail.

Darkpaw felt a bit of admiration for the dark brown she-cat, she would never be able to stand up to him like that.

Raggedstar continued as though there had been no interruption. "Snowflake do you promise to withhold the medicine cat code and stay true to your clan?"

Snowflake nodded and answered with a breathy,

"I do,"

"Then from now on your name will be Snowpaw for your pelt is like the snow of leaf-bare may StarClan guide your path, until you have gained your medicine cat name Badgerfang shall mentor you passing her knowledge onto you,"

Badgerfang approached her stopping a few mouse lengths in front of the young white she-cat."Come on kit, I don't have all day we touch noses,"

Feeling her body warm snowflake stepped forward and briefly brushed noses."Right,"

The clan began shouting their name to the dark sky."Snowpaw!Darkpaw!Snowpaw!Darkpaw!"

"Clan dismissed,"Raggedstar flicked her tail once they settled down before jumping down from the branch and pushing past the lichen of the tree. The black tabby followed closely glancing at the two before disappearing along with clan cats began to go back to what they were doing chattering amongst themselves excitedly.

"Come on,"Badgerfang grunted. "Let's get started the sooner you learn everything the sooner I can get back to my napping,"

Sparing a look at her sister who looked lost. The brown tom from the night before approached her body language nonthreatening. She hoped that he was being friendly and would help her.

"Before I become an elder would be fine!"Badgerfang snapped causing Snowflake to jump and follow her to a hollowed rock which as she got closer smelled sweet.

"Didn't expect to see you again" Hollowpaw mewed in greeting. Darkpaw flicked her ear before shrugging. "Me neither but it seems as though you'll be seeing me a lot more now"

His whiskers twitched before he ducked his head. "I didn't get to say this before but thanks for the help the night before,"

Darkpaw simply waved her tail. "No problem I dealt with several dogs and sometimes all you need to do to scare them off is aim for the nose,"

Hollowpaw nodded "I agree with Raggedstar your fighting skills that night were definitely better than the average kittypet it would be a shame if it wasted away,"

Licking at her chest fur she murmured thanks at the praise. "Uh, I have a question why did Raggedstar assign me a mentor?"

"Well, your mentor is to train you to become a warrior,"The tom cat mewed."Like my mentor is that tom Hawkheart,"

Using his muzzle he nodded to a brown tom that looked very much like her own assigned mentor but with much kinder blue eyes.

"Are they?" She started.

"Brothers? Yes, though Eagletalon is a lot grumpier than Hawkheart and honestly I'm surprised Raggedstar assigned him to you considering how his past with kittypets,"

She cocked her head "Past with kittypets?What happened?"

The tom opened his mouth to answer but a voice interrupted him.

"Hollowpaw do not forget you're on patrol duties so hurry up and join them," The dark tabby she-cat from before signaled to the entrance of the clan where a group of cats were gathered.

Dipping his head Hollowpaw murmured. "Yes Tigerstripe,"

The she-cat nodded to him before brushing past the two.

"Wait!" Hollowpaw called to her. Tigerstripe paused in her steps and swiveled her ears.

"Can Darkpaw join us in patrol? It would give her a chance to see the territory,"He left the words because Eagletalon won't do it out figuring that the she-cat already knew.

Her green gaze was unnerving as she ran her eyes of Darkpaw with an unknown emotion in her eyes. After what seemed like an eternity the she-cat nodded before padding away.

"Very well,"

"Patrol?"Darkpaw echoed. Hollowpaw simple flicked his tail for her to follow him.

"Its when we patrol the territory and remark any scent markers to warn off any other clans that decide it's in their best interest to hunt outside their own territory and if there are any intruders we chase them out,"

Darkpaw nodded as they got closer to the group of cats."We better hurry I don't want any of my clanmates clawing my ears for keeping them waiting for so long,"

Twitching her whiskers the young she-cat quickened her pace eager to see the forest she had dreamed of ever since she was a little kit.

"Kept us waiting long enough chattering with that kittypet, Hollowpaw," A familiar voice was Bluepebble. "I want this to be over as soon as possible so I can get back to my warm nest, just because you've been assigned patrol for the next six moonrises doesn't mean you should drag everyone down with you,"

Hollowpaw rolled his eyes."Darkpaw will be joining us on patrol,"

The tom snorted."Says who?"

"Says Tigerstripe," Hollowpaw countered. "If you have a problem with the deputy's choice then you can bring it up with her,"

Bluepebble curled his lip back in a sneer before padding closer to the entrance muttering under his breath.

He reminded her of Stormpaw.

"Let's go," Hawkheart mewed as he pushed past the entrance and into the dark forest. The other cats followed without a the moon was out it barely illuminated much and the night was dark as ever. Hawkheart dismissed several cats as they stalked through the darkness.

"Bluepebble, Shadewhisper take Cloudclan's border and the Twolegplace," he dismissed with a wave of his tail.A black tom with a white chest, paws, and jaw nodded padding off ahead with Bluepebble. "Amberblaze and Snakepaw take MistClan border"

Once the young black and white tom left with a larger orange tabby tom they were left alone.

They came to a steep path, Darkpaw blinked as Hollowpaw held up his tail for her to stop and dropped into a hunter's crouch. He moved down the sand slowly, Hawkheart nodded to beside the path where they could see a sandy island below a gray and white mouse was drinking from the waterside. Hollowpaw approached it carefully, his pawsteps quiet. Darkpaw held her breath as she watched the scene before her interesting.

He paused a couple mouse lengths away, and observed the mouse like creature for a few moments, making sure that it was oblivious to his presence. Then he lunged. The mouse let out a surprised shriek as Hollowpaw dug his claws into the body, holding steady. Quickly he bit down on the back of the neck to silence it and cut off it's breathing.

The creature's struggles began to slow and soon it went waited a few seconds before releasing it.

"Very good Hollowpaw," Hawkheart called. "The clan should eat well today,"

"Wow!"Princess mewed in surprise."That was so cool!What is it?"

Hawkheart purred."It's a water shrew, they're are common here on sandy isles during green leaf "

Darkpaw nodded before padding down the path careful not to slide down to greet her friend."Hollowpaw that was so awesome!"

The young tomcat licked at his chest at the praise. "Thanks,"

Darkpaw purred before looking out to the lake that lapped at the sand. It was beautiful with the moonlight shining within its clear waters. A waterfall fed into the lake with a soft roar which honestly was quite lulling.

"Beautiful isn't it?" murmured Hollowpaw. He used his muzzle to point to a large round stone sitting on the edge of the isle. "That stone is pretty comfy to sleep on especially during the day when the sun has warmed it the waterfall is pretty calming to listen to. We often use it for hunting as there are fish and ducks usually here, training due to the soft sand or just relaxing,"

She nodded and gave a breathy "Yeah,"

"Sandy isle was usually owned by StormClan but after a battle, it now belongs to ShadowClan,"

"What's StormClan?"

"The clan that lives in the lake on a marshy island," He answered crinkling his nose at the thought.

"Unlike every other clan, they like getting wet,"

She purred flicking his ear with her tail.

"What?Don't you like water?Scared of it?"

He jumped when she splashed water at him with a quick paw.

"That's too bad I like swimming," Darkpaw mewed running her tongue over her paw as he shook out his fur.

He snorted before meowing distastefully. "You sure you aren't secretly a StormClan cat?"

She twitched her whiskers.

"Darkpaw, Hollowpaw"Hawkheart called.

Gathering his kill Hollowpaw followed Darkpaw up the path, who gave a final glance at the river before continuing.

"Darkpaw since you haven't seen the territory boundary I'll show you the area"Hawkheart mewed. "Keep your paw steps quiet, the others may be hunting"

They padded quite the distance coming to a stop on a dirt path. Bluepebble had a squirrel clutched in his jaws sitting up when the three approached.

"How are the borders?," Hawkheart murmured.

Releasing his kill the blue tom licked his lips. "Good MistClan seems to be sticking to their own territory unlike those CloudClan fools,"

Shadewhisper appeared from the shadows with a snake in his mouth. Hawkheart praised the two."Good hunting the clan will be well fed today"

Bluepebble sent Darkpaw a sneer."What tired already kittypet?Is walking too much for your frail legs?"

Darkpaw curled her lip but before she could reply Hollowpaw retorted.

"I'm sure you were tired when you were an apprentice Bluepebble, in fact, I head you were complaining the whole way back to the clan like a kit,"

Bluepebble scowled.

"Come on let's go check up on the CloudClan territory,"Hawkheart mewed twitching his whiskers.

They left quietly Darkpaw feeling happy that Bluepebble had his jaws filled with his prey to saying anything else.

Padding along the dirt path the dark she-cat noticed the grass becoming longer and there were fewer trees. Stopping along the path where Amberblaze and Snakepaw were waiting with narrowed eyes as they looked across the path.

"There's been a faint scent of CloudClan within our borders,"Amberblaze reported.

Bluepebble bristled beside her.

"Was there any prey blood anywhere?"Hawkheart mewed with narrowed eyes.

The black and white apprentice near Amberblaze shook his head."Not that we could find,"

"I'll report this to Tigerstripe once we get back,"He meowed."Let's finish up patrol,"

Soon the group came upon the house folk place of which Darkpaw gazed at the fence that separated the place she had once lived in.

"What longing for your house folk already kittypet?" Her tail tip twitched at Bluepebble's sneer. She'd had enough of his snark.

"No I just thought I saw a dog, and I'm sure he'd be hungry for a certain blue tom," She snapped. He looked taken aback but Darkpaw was already padding after the group feeling victorious at having shut him up.

There were no more strange occurrences by the time they got back to camp, however, Darkpaw was tired and panting wanting nothing more but to curl up and sleep. The territory was beautiful and large she wondered how these cats could just walk around all of it and not get they had been in the forest for a while and by their muscles, they probably had more endurance than she did.

Those who had prey deposited on a pile with other prey while Hawkheart spoke to Tigerstripe.

Amberblaze stretched arching his back.

"I'm about ready to curl up and sleep, "The tom murmured. "Though I best visit Foxtail in the nursery, don't want her shredding my ears if I don't,"

He waved his tail at the three. "You apprentices go ahead and eat you've done well today especially you Hollowpaw, that duck is quite the plump one,"

Ducking his head at the praise Hollowpaw muttered a thank you and the orange tom padded away pushing into a fallen tree on the other side of camp.

Snakepaw simply yawned."I think I'd rather go to sleep, "With a flick of his tail he muttered a good night to the two and disappeared into a large tree.

"Come on, let's go pick something out and then you can rest, I remembered my first time out of camp and I was just as tired as you are," Hollowpaw mewed nodding towards the pile.

"Why don't we share a snake, There actually quite good despite the appearance, " Darkpaw crinkled her nose at that as he picked a green scaly creature that looked very much like a lizard but with no arms or legs.

They settled near a large tree and Hollowpaw pushed it towards her with a paw. "Why don't you have the first bite, it'll be interesting to know what expression you make after biting into it,"

She sniffed it curiously debating whether or not to try it.

Hollowpaw purred. "Go ahead it's pretty good don't worry about what it looks like,"

With a deep breath, Darkpaw opened her jaws and bit into the creature expecting the flavor to be disgusting. However that was not the case, a fish like taste along with another flavor she could not pin filled her was actually really good.

"So?"

She nodded blinking at the snake in surprise. "It's really good.."

Purring once more the brown tom took a bite. "Told you,"

They took turns devouring the prey until their bellies were full.

Darkpaw felt satisfied as Hollowpaw ran a tongue through her fur in an act he describes as sharing tongues, which cats did within the clan as an act of sharing gossip.

She couldn't believe she was a wild cat now...Something she had always dreamed of being!

Running her tongue over jaws from the taste of leftover snake, the dark she-cat simply felt relaxed beneath the moonlight enough to slightly doze off.

"Hollowpaw?! What are you doing with that kittypet filth!" a voice hissed. And there went her peace. Blinking open her eyes to see the gray and white she-cat standing before her with a look of disgust.

The faint claw marks across her cheek brought Darkpaw a sense of satisfaction.

Hollowpaw's tongue stopped. "I'm sharing tongues with my clanmate,"

The gray she-cat looked taken aback. "Sharing tongues with Her? After all, she did last night? She's nothing but a kittypet, she could never be a ShadowClan cat!"

"It's not my fault you decided to fight her and lost"He mewed cooly shrugging. "She saved us from a dog and Raggedstar said she has potential to be a strong warrior and I trust in my leader's judgment,"

Stormpaw was surprised a flash of hurt crossed her face before she masked it with a glare aimed at Darkpaw"You'll never be a warrior, Kittypet!"She spat fur bristling. Huffing she turned away and padded into the same tree Snakepaw disappeared into.

Darkpaw rolled her eyes. "I don't regret clawing her pretty face at all,"

Hollowpaw sighed. "Stormpaw's going to give you trouble, she can be pretty stuck up and bossy at times, even as friends all she did was boss me around,"

"I wouldn't even be on punishment if she had just listened to me instead of messing with that dog," He hissed."Anyway let's go to sleep tomorrow I have patrol,"

Nodding Darkpaw followed him to where Stormpaw and Snakepaw had padded into. She wondered if Hollowpaw and Stormpaw had been close friends.

He pushed in. "This is where we apprentices sleep until we become warriors,"

Inside it was pretty big, several cats were already curled up on soft moss beds snoring away.

"Luckily we have some free bedding here between me and Ratpaw if you want you can sleep here,"

She made herself comfortable surprised at how soft the bedding was. "Thanks,"

The tom only nodded before curling up in his own bedding. Darkpaw could feel eyes burning into her pelt, she knew who it was but honestly didn't care to start something with Stormpaw, when all she wanted to do is sleep.

"You must be the new apprentice!," Blinking open her drooping eyes Darkpaw was met with a brown tom who's amber eyes were bright with excitement "Hi I'm Ratpaw,"

The black she-cat was taken aback from the energy the other was permitting but manage to mew back a greeting sleepily.

"Ratpaw!Don't talk to that kittypet!" Stormpaw hissed from her corner.

The brown tom only waved his tail brushing her off

"Oh hush Stormpaw," He mewed with a roll of his eyes "Don't mind my sister, She can be a thorn sometimes but she'll warm up to you soon,"

Darkpaw blinked. "She's your sister?"

"Yep!"

The she-cat couldn't believe it how could such a bossy cat be related to a nice tom like this.

"Don't talk her ear off Ratpaw, knowing Eagletalon she'll have to get up early for training," Hollowpaw murmured.

Ratpaw winced "You have Eagletalon for a mentor?Yeesh, What was Raggedstar thinking...Anyway I'll leave you alone,"

Thankful to be left alone finally Darkpaw doted on the tom's reaction to her mentor being Eagletalon, was he really that bad? Her eyelids began to droop and she sighed. The young she-cat had a feeling she would find out soon.

…..


	6. Chapter 4

**So I know it's a lot of updates in one day, but this story is also on wattpad so I wanted to keep it up to date with what's on there. I'll be uploading at least every 2-4 weeks due to be busy with school so yeah. Anyway enjoy the story! I enjoy any constructive criticism as it would help me to grow as a writer, this is my first story uploaded on a website so do expect a lot of mistakes.**

Jake stared out at this place where his sisters had left. He felt more alone than anything, having grown up with his sisters it hurt that they had just abandoned him without a second thought. That night he'd longed for the warmth of their bodies so used to being curled up with them every night.

Although the tom felt hurt, and admittedly a little bitter, he still couldn't help but worry about them. Would those cats really accept his siblings?

Princess had boasted that the leader of the wild cats in the forest was impressed with her fighting skills, which wasn't hard to believe… but what about his other littermate? Snowflake wasn't much of a fighter.

In fact, she did her best to avoid fighting and only did so if there was no other option.

The tom sighed. As much as he wished for his sisters to take him with them rather than leave him behind, he knew that he wouldn't survive long in the shadowy forest.

The shadows scared him way too much, leaving him with a sense of dread every time he wandered into them. The young tom always felt as though there was something waiting amongst them ready to strike. Jake shuddered at the memory of the blue tom's claws raking into his pelt resurfaced.

That night served as an example of why he was scared of the forest.

There were other things that lived in the darkness, things bigger and more deadly than that of a cat.

Jake stared at his faint reflection in the invisible wall. It seemed more clear than before. Amber eyes warm and wise stared back at him. His reflection had aged somehow and what stood before him wasn't the scared little kit who always cowered in any sense of danger, but rather a strong tom.

The reflection cocked its head and gave a twitch of its whiskers as if amused with something.

He blinked.

"Jake, have you decided?" Thunderroar's deep rumble although muffled a bit by the barrier filled his ears. So unlike that of his own squeaky voice.

Feeling his body heat in embarrassment at the fact that he had been staring at the warrior that helped him from the night before, Jake made his way outside pushing through the small opening.

But we do look alike, don't we? We both have long yellow fur which shines when the sun hits it and amber eyes, and even similar markings...

He thought as he urged his body to cool down.

But that's where the similarities stop

As he faced the larger tom Jake played around with the words on his tongue.

The offer made by Thunderroar echoed in his mind.

If you join CloudClan you will become strong

It was a tempting offer. The young tom yearned to stop being such a coward and even though he feared the wild cats as by the stories he was told, they were not all savages.

Thunderroar had helped him escape the claws of another cat all while showing great strength without killing the other. He even took jake back home despite the tom being an outsider.

So unlike the stories of the wild cats tearing to shreds any intruders on their territory and leaving them in a pool of blood.

But as much as he wanted to get stronger the thought of leaving his home made him uncomfortable. He stared at the forest trees.

Was he really willing to give up his comforting life for that of a wild cat's? They lived harsh lives he knew they did. They had no housefolk to provide food for them or housefolks dens for protection. They hunted for their food. Fought for territory and built their own dens. Could he really live in the forest?

If princess and snowflake could do it then so could he.

Jake wanted to be strong…...and Thunderroar told him he would if he joined a clan.

The young tom stared into similar amber eyes. He took a deep breath hoping he would not regret his decision.

"Yes, I've decided, " he mewed confidently mindset."I want to…..I want to join your clan,"

Amber pools shone as the large tom nodded.

"Good choice,"

Signaling with a flick of his tail Thunderroar padded towards the fence, muscles rippling like the water of a stream under his pelt.

"Come on let's get you introduced to the clan so you can begin your training as soon as possible,"

Jake nodded and released a breath he had no idea he had been holding. With slow pawsteps as though unsure of his decision, he glanced back at the place that he had once called home, memories of him and his siblings resurfacing in his the tom shook away those heartfelt memories and turned away, following Thunderroar with quicker steps.

This place was no longer his home, princess and snowflake were gone to the forest to their new home and it was nothing but an empty cold new home would now be in the moor amongst the wild cats.

The day was warm as they made their way to the dirt road having to pass through the shadowy forest to get to their destination. Jake couldn't help but feel on edge. The trees loomed overhead and the shadows stretched across the ground. Though it was less frightening than being there at night, he stayed alert eyeing everything around him in case there was an ambush.

"Jake remember well that this is ShadowClan territory, and not to set paw here unless it is very important," Thunderroar mewed. "I don't sense a patrol nearby but you don't want to give any of ShadowClan a reason to start a fight,"

Jake nodded though the large tom would not need to worry, He wouldn't set paw in this place ever again if he had anything to do with it.

He felt relieved when they broke through the undergrowth the dirt path a few pawsteps ahead.

The scent of pine was slowly diminishing along with the scent of cats.

Must be ShadowClan cat scent

Jake thought the scent familiar.

Beyond the dirt path, there were fewer trees. The grass was taller than that of the forest and the moorland was opened to the bright blue sky overhead.

Thunderroar held up his tail stopping Jake as they reached a stream. Instead of swimming across they padded alongside it, upstream until they came to a bush.

"Follow me," The older tom mewed pushing into the bush.

Jake followed a bit confused as to why they were going into a bush located next to the water but followed without question.

The earth beneath his paws sloped down and he found himself entering a dark burrow. Several scents flooded his nose signaling that many cats had been down here before as he crawled through. It was dark and the the ground was soft, luckily the burrow was large though allowing one to pass at a time and the sound of the stream above was comforting.

When he finally reached the other side climbing out of the burrow and into the open Jake shook out his fur and examined the area before him. Up ahead he spotted two large stones of which two cats sat atop ears perked and eyes observing the land before them.

"Those are moor watchers," Thunderroar mewed from beside him."Warriors of the clan will sit upon those large stones day and night to watch over the moor and make sure there are no intruders," He brushed past Jake whiskers twitching as the younger tom's look of amazement.

"You'll be sitting up there some day when you become a warrior,"Thunderroar meowed eyes clouding briefly as he sighed "It really is a beautiful sight,"

Jake blinked as they continued on towards the moor watchers.

Would he really be up there someday? The tom wondered what it was like to be up there, so close to the clouds on the tall rocks, did it feel as though you were in the sky itself?

As they passed the large stonesI'mhe couldn't help but make eye contact with one of the cats. brown and white she-cat with blue eyes like that of ice who stared back. Her eyes gazed into Jake's. He felt a bit uncomfortable and looked away, but he could still feel the gaze burning into his pelt as he padded forward.

The path sunk down and opened up into a hole, the grass became scarce and the earth sandy under Jake's paws, walls surrounding the area had burrows dug into them and were occupied by cats who stopped their friendly chattering to look at him. Suddenly feeling shy he pressed close to Thunderroar as though trying to hide away from their curious gazes.

"Who's that tom?"His ears twitched when he caught the mew of a whispering cat "He looks a lot like Thunderroar,"

"Yeah you're right, you think that's his kit?"Another whispered back.

"If so then it's definitely not Weaselthorn's!"

There was a gasp."You're not saying he had kits with an outsider!?

A reddish brown she-cat stepped in their path, blocking them from moving forward. She was giving Thunderroar a sharp glare.

"What is the meaning of this," She hissed through gritted teeth, yellow eyes flicking to Jake."Thunderroar, why have you brought an outsider into our camp?"

She sniffed." Especially a kittypet,"

There were a few gasps from the group of cats that had begun to crowd around the three.

"I need to speak to Blizzardstar," Thunderroar mewed calmly.

The she-cat did not seem too happy about the avoidance of her question as she narrowed her eyes and baring her teeth at him." I didn't ask you what you wanted to do, I asked why there is an outsider in our Clan!"

"Roseclaw," The calm mew had the bristling she-cat stilling. The muttering of the crowd silenced.

An old mottled silver tom made his way to her side placing his tail tip against her shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"I'll handle this,"

At first she looked as though she wanted to argue, but instead huffed sneering at the large tom before her for a moment before stepping back and allowing the silver tom to take control.

"Thunderroar,"His voice was cool but his eyes were narrowed as he examined Jake."Why have you brought a kittypet into our territory?"

This tom was powerful, and the young tom didn't know how he knew but his presence seemed to demand eye was on him.

"Blizzardstar, I want this tom to join this clan and become a warrior,"Thunderroar mewed. The mottled tom's gaze snapped up to the large warrior. Every cat held their breath, the tension between the two was thick.

"And you decided this yourself?"His voice was calm but there was a sense of underlying anger in his tone. "Last time I checked you are not the leader, You aren't in any position to make that choice,"

Thunderroar did not back down. "I am aware, but this tom has potential of which I know could be beneficial to CloudClan,"

The clan cats began to whisper.

"And what makes you think I'll allow an outsider into CloudClan," The tom growled.

"I see myself in this tom,"The orange warrior mewed proudly."And to say that I turned into an excellent warrior would be an understatement,"

"Just because he looks like you doesn't mean he will turn out to you,"The mottled tom meowed softly.

Thunderroar gaze was unwavering. "But with the right training he could,"

"We could always use more strong warriors like Thunderroar," A low purring voice mewed. Jake's eyes scanned the surrounding cats until his gaze landed on the brown and white she-cat from before.

Some of the wild cats seemed to agree with her though others looked skeptical.

Jake shifted his paws, nervous. Would he not be accepted? Would he be forced to go back home?

He opened his mouth as though wanting to speak but the words fell silent in his throat. What could the young tom do or say to persuade them to let him join their clan? He wasn't strong or knew any special skills. Jake closed his mouth and instead looked to the warrior who brought him here.

Would Thunderroar be able to persuade them? It seemed several cats respected the large tom.

I want to be strong he thought, but there was nothing he could do but depend on Thunderroar.

Blizzardstar held up his tail silencing the surrounding cats. His eyes flicked to Jake for a few moments examining the young tom before staring into the older warriors eyes.

There were a few moments of silence before he spoke."Fine," He mewed quietly."But do not think this will be a common occurrence Thunderroar, you are not a leader, therefore, these choices are not for you to make,"

Roseclaw's jaw dropped as she looked at the mottled tom.

"B-but," she tried to argue.

But the elder tom simply waved his tail dismissing her. "The decision is made,"

Thunderroar dipped his head in gratitude. Looking the two over Blizzardstar turned away and began up a large smooth stone that towered over the settled on a smaller stone next to it glaring out at Jake. He had a feeling she didn't like him very much.

"Those old enough to catch your own prey gather here beneath the Great stone,"Blizzardstar yowled.

Jake watched as the cats began to collect beneath the stone staring up at their blue eyes caught his shining with smugness.

"Cats of CloudClan,"The tom began."As you know Thunderroar has brought an outsider into our clan with the thought of having him join us,"

He looked down upon them before his gaze rested on the large orange tom.

"Since he believes along with several others that this tom can better our clan….I will allow it,"

There were a few soft mutters that were quickly silenced.

Yellow eyes seemed to burn a hole into his pelt.

"Now along with this random occurrence Graysky's kits have reached of age," He nodded to the crowd."Skykit, Stonekit step forward,"

A gray tom along with a gray and white she-cat stepped forward, beneath the stone, fur well groomed. Jake felt a nudge urging him forward.

The brown and white she-cat nodded towards the two. "Go up there,"

With a quick nod and a murmured thanks, jake moved forward to join the two feeling all eyes on him. The gray and white she-cat shot him a curious look and opened her mouth as to say something, but was shoved softly by her littermate who shushed her.

"Skykit, Stonekit as you have reached of age it is time for you to be apprenticed, "Blizzardstar mewed."Skykit, from now on until you have received your warrior name you will be known as Skypaw and your mentor will be Leopardpounce, I hope she passes on her swiftness, clever mind and patience to you,"

The gray and white she-cat bounced on her paws as a spotted brown she-cat stepped forward and touched noses with her. They returned to the crowd sitting side by side.

"Stonekit from this day on until you have received your warrior name you will be known as Stonepaw, your mentor will be Beetle flight who I hope passes his strength and cunning brain to you,"

A lithe black tom padded forward next and briefly touched noses with the calm gray tom before they headed back to the crowd. Jake was left all alone now.

Blizzardstar's eyes were warm as he watched the two. Finally, he turned his gaze on Jake. "Outsider from now on until you have proven yourself and gained your warrior name you will be known as…."

There was silence and jake felt nervous. The mottled tom's eyes flashed.

"Sunpaw and Thunderroar will be your mentor, I hope he passes on his strength and courage to you,"

Blizzardstar turned to the large tom."Thunderroar he is to be your responsibility and I hope he turns out to be the warrior you want,"

Sunpaw felt a surge of relief as Thunderroar stepped forward they touched noses just like he had seen the others do.

The clan began to call out their new assigned names to the sky.

"Skypaw!Stonepaw!Sunpaw!"

Sunpaw?...I like that name! The tom wondered what new names his sisters had gained.

He felt a little embarrassed and yet warmed when they yowled out his the crowd calmed down Blizzardstar flicked his tail."Clan dismissed,"

Before padding into a den behind him. The cats dissipated, going back to their previous activities Roseclaw bumped shoulders with him hissing under her breath.

"We have no need for kittypet filth in our clan,"

It stung to hear those words, jake felt as though he had just made an enemy despite not having done anything to gain the anger of the he did not let the words get to him.

The tom wondered what new names his sisters had gained.

"Come along," His new mentor mewed."It's customary to show new apprentices around the territory,"

Sunpaw couldn't help but feel excited, his new life was beginning.

"Congratulations on your apprentice, Thunderroar,"A smooth purr broke him out of his thoughts to see the icy-eyed she-cat rubbing against the large tom.

"I can see that he has great potential already,"

Thunderroar purred."I know, it's the reason why I offered him a place here in the first place, Weaselthorn,"

So that's her name The young tom thought. It felt fitting as the she-cat looked as cunning as a weasel.

"I'm going to show him the territory," His new mentor announced."To get him familiar with our lands, and then began battle training,"

"Good,"Weaselthorn sniffed examining Sunpaw."He needs to gain some muscle and lose that softness,"

Waving his tail for Sunpaw followed after Thunderroar towards the entrance of the clan.

Beetleflight and Leopardpounce were waiting along with their apprentices.

"Mind if we join you?" Beetleflight asked. The large orange tom nodded. As they padded out now as a group the warriors in the front and apprentices in the back Sunpaw felt closed in by the gray littermates.

"Soo,"Skypaw started."Where ya from?"

"Uhm I used to live with my housefolks in the housefolk place," He mewed meekly.

"You were a kittypet!?" Skypaw meowed in shock even stopping in her tracks for a few moments before continuing."What made you want to join a clan? Were your twolegs not treating you right or something?"

Twolegs?Is she talking about the housefolk?

Sunpaw shook his head."No, they treated me, ok I guess,"

She cocked her head at him."Then why did you come here?"

He kept his eyes on his paws feeling shy."Well, I wanted to be stronger and Thunderroar told me that his clan could make me stronger if I came here…."

The she-cat opened her mouth to ask another question.

"Skypaw quit bothering him," Stonepaw interrupted. Sunpaw felt a little relieved to have the tom step in and save him from his sister's relentless questions.

"Oh cmon!" She whined." Don't tell me you aren't a little curious,"

"I am but bothering someone isn't the best way to get answers,"Stonepaw snorted.

The young orange tom stifled a purr when the gray and white she-cat huffed at her brother's words but went quiet.

The banter of the siblings reminded him of his littermates….Sunpaw sighed shaking his head, he shouldn't be thinking about them right now it would only bring down his great mood.

He was glad when they reached the stream as it took his mind off of his siblings as Skypaw bounded past him for a better look.

The young tom jumped in shock however when she leaped in splashing water all over the place.

"Darn," Skypaw meowed as she kicked her paws to keep herself afloat."I was hoping to catch one of the fish,"

Leopardpounce sighed as her apprentice climbed out and shook out her fur, hitting a few cats with droplets.

"You thought you could catch one? By what joining them?" Beetleflight grunted clearly not happy about being hit with a few droplets. Skypaw only stuck her tongue at him.

"I thought I would be able to pin one if I jumped in…"

He snorted.

Sunpaw noticed Leopardpounce's whiskers twitch."When it comes to catching fish the fastest way is usually not the way. It takes time and patience to hunt them,"

"I'll catch one next time,"Skypaw promised."Are we swimming to get across?

"No, we take the tunnel"Thunderroar mewed motioning to the tunnel he and sunpaw had passed through.

"Oh!" In mere seconds skypaw was pushing through it eagerly.

Beetleflight sighed."I'm glad Blizzardstar didn't assign that one to me she's quite a pawful, I'd need great patience for that one,"

Leopardpounce snorted."Patience you don't have, besides I'm glad to have such a excited apprentice, it will keep me on my paws,"

The black and white tom rolled his eyes before following the spotted she-cat into the tunnel stonepaw on his tail.

Sunpaw blinked he hadn't expected the wildcats to be so friendly with each the stories, he heard they were just vicious savages but it looked like these cats were just like any other cat but with a harsher lifestyle…..Those stories were nothing but stories it seemed.

The dirt path was just a little ways off and the two gray apprentices stared at the dark forest in wonderment.

"Is that where ShadowClan is lives?"Skypaw asked as she observed the looming trees."All those trees blocking out the sky...I could never live there! I like the big open sky with Starclan looking down on me,"

"Good to know you don't like the forest,"Beetleflight purred. "I wouldn't even step paw near it if I were you, Those ShadowClan cats will surely shred your pelt if you did,"

Sunpaw flinched as he remembered sharp blue eyes stalking him from the shadows.

….

Beetleflight gave a yawn. "Alright I'm going back I've got hunting patrol to go on soon,"

He signaled to stonepaw."Stonepaw come along, when we get back you're in charge of taking care of the elders, make sure you get all of Acornpool's fleas taken care of I don't want her clawing my ears,"

Stonepaw grimaced but followed the tom as they padded back to camp, smacking his snickering littermate in the face with his tail.

Sunpaw was about to follow, his paws felt sore from all the exploring of the territory and all he wanted to do was get back to the clan, curl up ,and fall asleep. He was however stopped in his tracks by Thunderroar's tail.

"We aren't going back yet," The large tom shook his head."We are about to begin battle training,"

Sunpaw held his tongue and nodded. He wanted to complain about how tired and sore he was, but remembered that he was now a wild cat. These cats were strong and wouldn't whine and complain like kits just because they were tired. It was how they built strength, so he was just going to have to suck it up if he wanted to be like them."Okay,"

Though that didn't stop Sunpaw from being a bit nervous. He wasn't known as a fighter. Unlike Snowflake who didn't like fighting but was unnaturally good at it, He didn't like fighting and was unnaturally bad at it.

Too many times when Sunpaw and his littermates used to playfight the young tom found himself pinned and defeated by his sisters.

Not once had he been able to win against them.

"Can we begin battle training too?" Skypaw bounced on her paws giving Leopardpounce a pleading look.

Sunpaw wondered how she could have so much energy. Leopardpounce contemplated the option for a few moments holding back a purr when her apprentice widened her eyes, begging silently. The spotted she-cat looked to Thunderroar.

"If it's fine with Thunderroar,"she mewed.

"Of course,"The large tom agreed "The more the better,"

He turned away and led the group away from their current spot to a small clearing with a large rock surrounded by sand.

Skypaw padded a few mouse-lengths ahead and kneaded the sand beneath her a split second, she spun to face Sunpaw dropping into a crouch and stare into the tom's eyes with a challenging look.

"I won't take it easy on you Sunpaw, even if you are a kittypet," She mewed tail flicking from side to side.

Sunpaw stepped back surprised and shot his mentor a nervous glance.

Thunderroar only gave him a purr placing his tail tip on the young tom's shoulder to ease his nerves.

"Don't worry it's just training, keep your claws sheathed and do the best you can," He murmured."Any mistakes you make I'll help you to correct,"

Nodding slowly Sunpaw faced his opponent mimicking her stance. The soft sand sank in between his paws leaving an uncomfortable itch.

Leopardpounce and Thunderroar pounced atop the rock observing the two."Begin,"

Skypaw was quick almost like a blur as she bounded forward causing sunpaw to freeze up in shock. He was easily knocked off his paws and sent skidding in the sand.

The gray and white she-cat stood over him triumphantly, stepping back when Thunderroar held up his tail.

"Nice job skypaw using your speed to surprise your opponent,"He praised. She puffed out her chest basking in the attention. "Sunpaw remember not to freeze up no matter how surprised you are, in an actual battle your opponent could have easily taken that moment of weakness and killed you,"

A shiver passed down the young tom's spine as he got to his paws and gave a quiet nod facing his opponent once more.

"If your opponent is quicker that you, you will have to make an even quicker decision before they strike," Thunderroar mewed. "Try to predict their aim and dodge then use that moment when they are open to strike,"

Sunpaw took the advice storing it for later as he prepared himself for another try.

"Again,"

This time Skypaw lunged instead of rushing towards him. Forcing his body to move he stepped to the side and in the split moment, her tail passed his face an idea came to he grabbed hold of her tail with his teeth and tugged.

The gray and white she-cat gave a yelp. Digging his paws into the sand to steady himself, Sunpaw pulled. Skypaw tried to turn around and bat at him with her paws to dislodge him, but the tom made sure to move in the opposite direction to make it hard to reach. Sunpaw planned to pin her once the she-cat tired out, but instead, Skypaw stilled. He blinked in confusion.

Before he knew it, however, Sunpaw's face exploded in pain. Skypaw had kicked him with her back legs. Taken aback the tom. He felt dazed from the attack the world spinning as he swayed on his paws. Skypaw didn't waste a moment and swung her paw at his head with all her strength. The unexpected force knocked the tom on his side blinking as he lay resting in the sand. His opponent was on him in a two wrestled nipping, biting, batting and raking sheathed paws against each other in an effort to best and pin the other.

Finally, Sunpaw gave up panting harshly. Skypaw pressed her paws onto his shoulders and used her weight to keep him pinned. The earlier trek through the moorland mixed with struggling had sapped all of Sunpaw's energy…,but it seemed he wasn't the only one. Skypaw's neverending energy had also seemed to have been drained. The tom could hear her breathing and felt proud. Even though he hadn't beat her at least he had managed to wear the she-cat down.

She let him up and the two both tried to catch their breath.

"Good job you two," Leopardpounce praised. "Sunpaw you had a great plan by grabbing at a weak point, and dodging the attempts to dislodge you,but remember that a back kick could always be heading your way, which skypaw executed wonderfully,"

"Yes," Thunderroar agreed."That was a great strategy, and despite being knocked down you managed to put up a great fight sunpaw even after being spent from exploring the territory, had Skypaw not had the energy that she has which will be useful in battle, I'm sure it could have turned out in your favor,"

Sunpaw felt the skin under his fur heat up in embarrassment at the praise and licked at his chest fur.

Feeling more determined to prove himself once more he faced his opponent once more and got into position.

Skypaw simply purred and did the same."Not in your wildest dreams will I let you pin me,"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Again,"

 **And that was the fourth chapter,so guys I would like to know what you think of the characters so far. What do you draw about their personalities? Whose your favorite so far?**


	7. Chapter 5

A paw prodded her awake shaking her from dreams of darkness.

"Darkpaw," A voice whispered " C'mon we have to begin our apprentice duties,"

Nodding groggily darkpaw uncurled releasing a yawn.

Darkpaw's legs still ached from yesterday's exploration and she wanted nothing more than to curl up and go back to sleep. Begrudgingly she got to her paws and followed Hollowpaw from the den careful to avoid any body parts. Pushing out from the den she shunned away from the sunlight and stretched, arching her back. It was later in the day meaning that the she-cat had slept for quite a while, yet despite that fact Darkpaw still yearned to be back in her bedding.

"Eagletalon said you're joining me on the apprentice duties so we'll be taking care of the elders and receiving moss,"Hollowpaw mewed.

"Mmkay,"Darkpaw murmured."But can't we eat first?"

Hollowpaw shook his head,"Not until we finish up our duties,elders and queens are to be taken care of before we can eat it's the warrior code,"

Despite her empty belly Darkpaw didn't complain, if taking care of others before she ate was the wild cat rule then she would have to abide by it no matter how hungry she was. Sending a longing look at the fresh kill pile Darkpaw averted her eyes to focus on the tom before her hoping that her rumbling belly would soon ease.

"Come on I'll show you where to gather moss," Hollowpaw meowed turning away and beginning towards the entrance of the clan, however he was halted by a familiar gray she-cat.

"Hey Hollowpaw going out to collect moss?" Stormpaw greeted.

Her blue gaze wandered to Darkpaw narrowing.

"Don't tell me you're going with her," She sneered.

Hollowpaw simply brushed past her ignoring the other's hurt look." Yes, I'm going with her to gather moss, so go away,"

"Why would you help that outsider?" Stormpaw hissed fur bristling as she glared at Darkpaw. The dark pelted she-cat could really careless feeling too tired to fight with her.

"Because this outsider is now a part of our clan," Hollowpaw snapped coldly." Besides I like her, she listens to me, unlike some other cat I know,"

Darkpaw felt warmed by his words, it seemed the tom already viewed her as a friend. She noticed the gray she-cat flinch however. Her voice lowered to a whisper.

"After all she did?"

"You mean as in save our lives?" The brown tabby tom snorted." And then instead of receiving thanks fight you?"

Stormpaw bristled. "She was in our territory! Unlike you I was defending it like a real warrior!"

Hollowpaw faced her teeth bared." Warriors don't attack cats that just saved them! Even if the cats are not from their own Clan!"

"Besides I'm not the one who got us into that mess that night now am I?" He mewed with narrowed eyes. " If you hadn't insisted on irritating that dog, then we wouldn't have to do apprentice duties for seven sunrises instead of training!"

Darkpaw was taken aback by the other's anger and it seemed she wasn't the only one. Stormpaw looked at a lost for words eyes wide. _Well we he put it that way it does make it seem like everything was her fault_ the dark she-cat thought.

"I don't have time for this, Stormpaw you can do your duties by yourself," Hollowpaw mewed calmly." C'mon Darkpaw the faster we gather moss he quicker we can eat,"

Then he was padding towards the entrance at a quick pace. Darkpaw blinked before following after him. She spared a glance at Stormpaw feeling a bit bad. The gray she-cat looked hurt and lost. Her tail drooped and she stared down at her paws eyes regretful. Suddenly she looked up and the two met eyes. Immediately Stormpaw's filled with anger and hate as she huffed and spun around beginning towards the apprentice den.

Darkpaw rolled her eyes.

The two were quiet as they walked together in the forest. Darkpaw could feel the simmering anger in her new found friend and couldn't help but be curious. It seemed that Hollowpaw and Stormpaw were once friends, but ever since that night they no longer shared a bond.

Deciding to find out as she wanted to at least be closer with the tom seeing as they were now becoming friends she opened her mouth.

"I don't mean to pry," The she-cat started."But you and Stormpaw are friends right?"

He didn't look at her remaining quiet for a few moments, and Darkpaw took that as a sign that he did not want to talk about it.

"We were, at least I thought we were," Hollowpaw finally answered voice quiet." But after that night I came to the realization that she uses me as more of her slave than a friend,"

The she-cat remained quiet, silently urging him to go on.

"Stormpaw is bossy, she always wants you to do things her way," The tom shook his head." And usually her way includes trouble, and like the friend I am I often find myself dragged down with her when she finds it,"

"I always tell her not do something because I know that she'll just get hurt but she never listens, just like that night...Stormpaw wanted to sneak out to go and see that dog and of course I tried to stop her,but she wouldn't listen" Hollowpaw sighed." So I went with her to make sure she wouldn't get hurt,"

He looked up at the bits of sky that could be seen through the thick trees." Everything was fine at first, we saw the dog and I was ready to leave, but Stormpaw wasn't just satisfied with seeing it, so she started _taunting_ it, which i knew was a bad idea but no matter how I tried to get her to stop she kept doing it,"

"Then the dog got so angry it managed to break through the fence and chase after us,"

"And that's when you ended up like that, that night," Darkpaw mewed. _That fur brained she-cat!_ She hissed in her mind. _That dog could have ripped her to shreds!_

The tom nodded."Yeah, so now we're on punishment,"

"And honestly I'm just so tired of being dragged into trouble, and until Stormpaw apologizes and learns to listen I'm no longer talking to her,"

Darkpaw agreed with his reasoning, if that had been her in that situation she would no longer be friends with Stormpaw either.

"You two could've gotten seriously injured that night," She meowed. "I've seen some cats that were nearly mauled to death by dogs,"

He gave her a warm look."It was only because of your help,"

She gave him a purr.

The talk seemed to have bettered his mood and with a flick of his tail they padded in the opposite direction of ground beneath their paws became soft as they continued a little ways before coming to a stop at a pond.

Mouth suddenly feeling dry Darkpaw dipped her head and began to drink, closing her eyes and relishing in the fresh taste so unlike the water back at home.

A sudden croak had her eyes blinking open to stare into bulging eyes.

The creature was small, green and slimy. It sat in the shallow pool staring at her. She stared back never having seen such a thing before. Then Its chest began to inflate and another croak filled her ears causing her to jump back in surprise.

The small creature blinked at her before fleeing into the deeper water. Darkpaw looked after it caught off guard.

Their was a chuckle behind her causing the she-cat to spin around and face Hollowpaw.

"Calm down it was just a frog,"He purred."You should have seen the look on your face when it croaked,"

Darkpaw huffed. "I've never seen a "Frog" before so how was i supposed to know it was gonna do that?"

Hollowpaw shrugged. "Too bad you let it get away frogs are pretty tasty,"

The black she-cat gave him a look of disgust."You eat those? But they look so slimy!"

He simply ran a tongue over his paws as though picturing the frog's flavor on his it.

"Doesn't stop them from being good, you should try one you may actually like it,"

"Doubt it,"Darkpaw murmured underneath her breath.

"Hey you didn't like snake until you tried it, so who knows you may enjoy frog,"

He had a point but still she couldn't believe anyone could eat such a thing.

All the talk about food had the two's belly rumbling causing hollowpaw to lick his jaws.

"Alright let's gather the moss and take care of the elders before my belly eats itself,"

Darkpaw agreed.

Hollowpaw observed the area briefly before focusing on a pine tree with bits of green fluff growing from the bark.

"Ok see that green stuff? That's moss,"He mewed."And we need to collect it and bring it back to camp,"

Unsheathing his claws the tom began to scrap at the moss allowing shreds of it to collect on the ground. Darkpaw watched closely as he molded the moss together into a ball with his paws.

"Just like that,"He mewed. "Gather as much as you can so we don't have to make so many trips back and forth, and then we'll head back to camp,"

Nodding she set to work unsheathing her claws and scraping at the moss until it collected at her paws. It was wet on her tongue and had an unusual plant-like taste to it when she collected it in her jaws. Once the two had collected a large amount they began back to camp. Darkpaw gave the pond one last glance noticing the frog from before watching with unblinking eyes as they left.

A shudder passed through her body. Who could seriously even eat something like that?

Once back to camp Hollowpaw nodded to a pile of large rocks. He led her inside of the opening where two cats were. A dark grey tom and a red and white she-cat. The two both had the beginnings of a graying muzzle.

"Ah Hollowpaw,"The tom greeted."About time this moss was beginning to dry out and was getting uncomfortable,"

Dipping his head in greeting Hollowpaw began towards the tom and started gathering the old moss beneath him. Watching closely darkpaw observed him to see what she needed to do.

"You must be the outsider Raggedstar accepted into the clan,"The old tom mewed noticing her. "Never thought there'd be a day where proud shadowclan would accept a kittypet,"

There was no hostility in his voice simply curiosity. "Did you really fight off a dog?" The red and white she-cat asked. Darkpaw nodded shuffling her paws.

"Well come,come don't be shy!"Longclaw purred."We'd love to hear the story,"

She casted a quick glance at Hollowpaw who simply shrugged. Seeing as it was okay Darkpaw approached the red and white she-cat. While she retold the story she might as well get some work done.

Dropping the moss she murmured an okay before getting to work on the old moss just like Hollowpaw had done, scraping at the dried moss.

With that she began to retell the story of the first night she met Raggedstar to the eager elders who listened with rapt attention.

"Wow, "Longclaw murmured once she finished."How impressive,I know very few apprentices who would just charge into a battle and attack a dog like that,"

The praise made Darkpaw feel quite proud of herself.

"I agree, Raggedstar made a good choice in allowing you into the clan,with the right training you could become quite the warrior" Robineyes purred.

Longclaw sighed."Though to say it'll be hard considering that Eagletalon is your mentor,"

"Yes especially since he's still mourning…."Robineyes shook her head."That poor warrior.."

Darkpaw was curious as to what could have happened. Why did the tom hate her and what did they mean by still mourning?

"What happened?"She asked.

The two elders exchanged looks."Well you see young one, Eagletalon didn't use to be the way he is now,"Robineyes mewed .A look of grief filled Longclaw's eyes."Used to be quite the warrior and a strong one at that, with a big heart,"

Longclaw chuckled sadly."That was until the she-cat he loved one day on patrol near the Twolegplace was brutally murdered by kittypets,"

He sighed softly. "She was with his kits and they along with a few other cats lost their lives, and since that day Eagletalon was never the same,"

"So you see, the reason why Eagletalon was so angry when he was chosen to be your mentor is because you were a kittypet which he has grown to hate for taking away his mate, He thinks that they are all cold-blooded killers,"Longclaw further explained.

"But we aren't all killers,"Darkpaw murmured she hadn't known the tom for long she felt sorrow for him.

"We know young one,We know,"Robineyes mewed softly pressing her tail tip against Darkpaw's shoulder.

'But you can show him that it's not true,"Longclaw murmured.

Darkpaw nodded looking down at her paws in deep thought.

Hollowpaw placed a pile of moss on a stick next to her which held a foul smelling scent.

"Mousebile,"Hollowpaw mewed."To get rid of the elder's fleas,"

She nodded solemnly.

Hollowpaw demonstrated on Longclaw and after getting the hang of it Darkpaw started on Robineyes examining her closely as placing the mousebile on the fleas.

The raw anger in Eagletalon's eyes was unlike any she had seen before so full of hate that it was couldn't help but feel like if the tom had met her that night instead of Raggedstar she would have been killed.

She forced her fur to lie flat not wanting to portray her newfound fear of the she could somewhat understand his anger at having his mate and kits killed she did not understand why he would take it out on her when she had nothing to do with the attack.

 _Could that Tom really had been nice before his mate was killed?_

"I'm starving,"Robineyes mewed."Could you two bring a robin?"

"Or a snake,"Longclaw put in.

Her thoughts had been enough to distract Darkpaw from her empty belly but now the hunger was back."Sure,"

Following Hollowpaw to the freshkill pile she carefully examined the pile which had been renewed since the last time she saw it.

"Looks like Longclaw's going to have to share a robin,"Hollowpaw mewed picking a plump hadn't been a snake on the pile this time.

He deposited the prey at robineyes paws,causing the she-cats eyes to light up.

"Ah my favorite,I got my name from them you know?"Robineyes meowed."I could always spot a robin no matter how well hidden it was,"

Longclaw grumbled before purring."You always did have the sharpest eyes,remember when those group of rogues tried to sneak attack our patrol,but your eyes caught them before they could?"

"How could I forget?"The she-cat purred before boasting."Those mangy cats didn't see it coming,"

The happy mood the two exerted was enough to lift Darkpaw's mood.

Bidding them goodbye and depositing the old moss and mousebile the duo made their way back to the pond to wash their paws.

The cool water was comforting on her paws.

"Was Eagletalon really that different before his mate was killed?"she asked.

Hollowpaw was quiet for a few moments."Yeah,at least that's what Hawkheart told me,It seemed that when Eagletalon's mate died he completely changed,"

Darkpaw sighed staring at her reflection in the water."But why would Raggedstar assign him as my mentor if she knew of his hatred of Kittypets?"

She saw Hollowpaw shrug his shoulders."Who knows,all we can do is trust her judgement,"

Darkpaw blinked.

Yes her only option was to trust the judgement of Raggedstar and hope that it turned out for the better. She didn't know why the she-cat would do such a thing but she must have had a reason to do so.

"Sorry for forcing you to do all the work,"She murmured.

He simply waved his tail dismissing the issue. "It's fine, c'mon let's go back and see if we can eat something,before I go on patrol,"

Shaking away her previous thoughts Darkpaw padded after him."Didn't you go on patrol yesterday? Why are you going again?"

"Raggedstar put me and Stormpaw on punishment for that night,"He answered his tail tip was irritated."Instead of training we will have to go on patrol several times and care for the elders for seven moon rises that's our punishment,"

Definitely not happy, Darkpaw observed."We'll looks like I'll be joining you on your punishment until Eagletalon begins to train me which doesn't look like any time soon,"

That seemed to lighten the tom's mood.


	8. Chapter 6

"Borage leaves….brings down fever and increases milk in Queens…."Snowpaw murmured to herself. "Honey soothes the throat…."

She sighed softly running each herb and their use through her mind once over trying to keep them memorized. Badgerfang had tasked her with the job as her first duty and to be honest it was not easy. There was just so much to remember.

"Cobwebs help to stop bleeding…" she muttered. "Feverfew...Feverfew.."

"Reduces body temperature, or heals aches, pains or headaches," Badgerfang grunted from further in the den as she sorted through herbs.

"Go take a rest you've been at it for quite a while,"Badgerfang mewed eyes focused before her."Get something to eat, stretch your legs, or nap, you have plenty of time,"

Snowpaw nodded tiredly. Her legs did feel stiff from being in the same position for quite some time. With that, she got up and pushed out of the den taking in a deep breath once she was out. Although the scent of herbs was a pleasant scent, she needed a change in smell.

Licking her lips she padded towards the pile eyeing a squirrel, similar to the one Princess- no Darkpaw(She had to remember that they were living with wild cats now) had caught once before. The memory was fresh in her mind of the night she had eaten her first piece of prey.

Mouth watering now, Snowpaw approached the pile ignoring the other prey. She doubted they would taste as good as the squirrel anyway.

Before she could take it in her mouth, however, she spotted out of the corner of her eye Raggedstar padding across the clearing towards her den.

An image of the black cat from her dreams appeared in the young apprentices head for a brief moment.

That she-cat had known her and her littermates and advised them to seek out Raggedstar, and despite the fact that Snowpaw had never met the leader of ShadowClan before the dream, she did after.

Although all it was, was a dream Snowpaw had this deep feeling that it was much more than that. Several times she wanted to pass off the strange occurrence but it always found a way to resurface and tug at her mind with questions.

Perhaps Raggedstar would have some answers? After all the she-cat did tell her to seek out the leader.

Licking her lips with a final glance at the squirrel Snowpaw made her way towards the other she-cat. She would eat later, right now she doubted she would be able to relax with so many questions on her mind.

Quickening her pace to catch up to Raggedstar's long strides she called out."Raggedstar,"

The brown she-cat stopped in her tracks and glanced behind her eyes falling on the white she-cat.

"Yes?"

Snowpaw huffed feeling quite tired."May I speak with you?"

There were a few moments of silence as the older she-cat thought on her answer. Finally, she gave a flick of her tail motioning for the other to follow her into her den.

The young apprentice quietly breathe a sigh of relief as they made their way to the large oak and pushed past the lichen into the dark den.

Raggedstar curled up on her bedding green eyes curious and waiting.

"What would you like to discuss?"

Snowpaw opened her mouth before closing it, suddenly had come this far but she had no idea how to approach the subject. How could she just say, There was this black she-cat who spoke to me in my dreams and somehow knew me and my siblings and told me to talk to you? Without looking crazy?

"Well, you see,"She started."The night before we met you….I had this dream,"

Raggedstar's ears perked in interest and she nodded for the other to continue.

"I met this black she-cat and she knew my name and my littermates names, and she gave me this warning and then she told me to go and find you,"

"I know it's just a dream," She defended quickly."But I keep having this weird feeling that it's more than that,"

Snowpaw noticed something flash in the leader's green eyes too quick to catch. It was quiet for a moment. And when Raggedstar opened her mouth to speak, the young apprentice expected a scolding for being paranoid. Instead when the scarred leader spoke her words came out slowly as if it pained her.

"And what did this she-cat say?"

That caught Snowpaw off guard but she quickly masked her shock as she recalled the warning from her dream.

"The storm is not the enemy look past it's threatening roars to the beast who controls it with claws of the forest, follow the trail of red and the shadows shall rise and fight alongside the light to loosen its grip."Snowpaw mewed the words clear in her mind.

Raggedstar's eyes narrowed and Snowpaw cocked her head."Do you know what they mean?"

"No,"

"Oh," Silence enveloped the den, both now lost in thought. Raggedstar held a strange look in her eyes, as though she was not there in the den, but elsewhere as she stared down at her paws. Suddenly the lost gaze was replaced with a burning anger and hurt. Snowpaw took a step back when she saw the she-cat's muscles tense and claws unsheathe to dig into the ground.

The burst of emotion, however, was quick to be replaced with an unnerving calm exterior which left Snowpaw baffled as Raggedstar relaxed.

The she-cat flicked her tail dismissively at the young apprentice as she now stared at the corner of her den.

"Leave,"

Snowpaw hesitated for a second, she had more questions but now did not seem to be the time to ask. She would try again later. So she turned away only to be stopped at the lichen by a soft voice.

"Did this...did this she-cat tell you her name?"

Snowpaw shook her head."No,"

And continued on her way when the den quieted once more. "But she did have blue eyes like mine and looked a lot like my sister,"

Once out in the clearing Snowpaw sighed softly. She had thought that by talking with Raggedstar she would gain some answers but instead, all she received were more questions.

Her belly rumbled and Snowpaw closed her eyes. Although the young apprentice was now even more curious and unsettled than before, she hoped that the squirrel would help to settle her.

However as she made her way to the pile of prey which was now occupied by a brown tom observing the kills, she paused in her paw steps when he grasped the squirrel in her jaws.

Snowpaw blinked. That squirrel had been the only prey in the pile.

Their eyes met.

The Tom waved his tail in greeting eyes bright.

Snowpaw now bitter simply stared at the piece of prey that hung limply from his mouth.

The tom seemed to catch on. He set the squirrel at his paws and motioned towards it with one paw.

"Would you like to share this?"He offered."I wouldn't be able to eat it all by myself,"

Snowpaw licked her lips once more thinking on it, she felt hungry enough to eat the whole squirrel but it would be rude to just demand the whole thing. Her stomach made the choice for her as once more it released a growl and she agreed.

"Yes,"

The tom nodded grasping the squirrel and settling near the medicine cat den with Snowpaw in tow. He released the squirrel and motioned towards her.

"You can have the first bite, you look like you're starving,"

She simply nodded and bit into the squirrel nearly purring from the delicious flavor that flooded her mouth.

"Thank StarClan for this kill," The tom mewed softly. Snowpaw paused to give him a questioning stare as she swallowed.

"StarClan?" She echoed.

The tom blinked at her before looking sheepish." Sorry I forgot that you're not wild born,"

He nodded to the starry sky.

"StarClan is the clan of warriors who have died, they watch over us from the stars we call Silverpelt," he mewed gazing up at them.

He looked to her." You'll get to meet them someday, as a medicine cat StarClan usually has contact with you, I've heard that their pelts shine with the stars,"

Snowpaw swallowed another bite as she looked to the glittering stars. She thought back to the black she-cat whose pelt did shine like that of the night sky.

"I think I already have," She thought. Snowpaw closed her eyes as she took another bite of the squirrel, not quite tasting it as words echoed in her ears.

 _I'm sorry_

 _"Sorry for what?"_


	9. Chapter 7

The days went by quickly, Darkpaw rarely ever saw her mentor and when she did the tom gave her a sharp glare. So she spent her time doing apprentice duties with Hollowpaw, gathering moss and replacing old bedding of the other dens, grooming the elders and getting rid of their fleas, going on border and hunting patrols, giving prey to the elders and one snappish pregnant queen named Foxtail.(Who nearly clawed her eyes out when she was brought the wrong freshkill, How was darkpaw suppose to know she wanted a rabbit when all the she-cat had said was get whatever?)

Today, however, was the last day of Hollowpaw's punishment, which the tom was extremely relieved for.

"If I had to go on one more patrol or nearly get my tail torn off by Foxtail,"Hollowpaw grunted."I'd go crazy,"

Darkpaw purred.

"Finally I can do some training with Hawkheart,"The tom mewed sheathing and unsheathing his claws as he stretched."I want to learn some new battle moves,"

Darkpaw too wanted to learn battle moves, but seeing how her mentor had her that didn't seem like a possibility.

"Well you go and have fun," she sighed."I'll just go join another patrol and see you later,"

Hollowpaw sheathed his claws and sat back."Oh, I bet you want to train too, maybe Hawkheart will let you join us?"

The dark she-cat flicked her tail."Really?"

He nodded."Yeah, seeing as Eagletalon is ignoring you and Hawkheart knows how unfair that is he'll probably let you train with me,"

Excited, Darkpaw followed Hollowpaw as they pushed out of the apprentice's den and into the clan's clearing.

Hawkheart was resting outside the warrior's den eyes closed as he was illuminated by the moonlight.

"Hawkheart's pretty nice," Hollowpaw meowed."The complete opposite of Eagletalon, if they didn't look alike I wouldn't even believe they were related,"

She stifled a laugh. Though she did agree.

"Hawkheart!"Hollowpaw called."My punishment's finally ended can we go out and train now?"

The large tom's whiskers twitched as he blinked open icy blue eyes.

"You've learned your lesson I suppose?"He asked eyes twinkling in amusement.

Hollowpaw snorted. "After being stuck in the clan for seven moonrises I have more than learned my lesson, I'm aching to start training again,"

Hawkheart nodded."Very well but please do remember to never do that again, you may not escape with your life next time,"

He got to his paws before noticing Darkpaw behind the brown apprentice.

"Ah, hello Darkpaw do you need something?"

The black she-cat gave a nod."Yes can I join in training?, I've been stuck doing apprentice duties and Eagletalon hasn't approached me since the day Raggedstar assigned him as my mentor.."

Hawkheart opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted with a growl.

"No,"

The deep angry voice could only belong to one cat. Eagletalon.

The tom had appeared behind his brother and was giving darkpaw a sneer.

"Eagletalon,"Hawkheart started.

"She's not your apprentice," Eagletalon snapped."And you don't get to ask another mentor to train you,"

Darkpaw flattened her must've heard us talking about it because we were near the warrior's den.

"But that's not fair! If you won't train me then I should be able to ask another cat to train me! "She protested.

"Yeah, that's not fair Eagletalon!"Hollowpaw mewed angrily."She's basically been stuck on punishment doing duties with me, she's a part of the clan now, and your apprentice meaning you have to train her!"

Eagletalon's cold eyes snapped to Hollowpaw."I don't have to train anybody, if Raggedstar thinks that a kittypet is worthy enough to join the clan then obviously she can teach herself to be a warrior, after all kittypets have no problem killing others,"

"Eagletalon, you know that not all kittypets are like that, she is but a kit!"The large tom simply brushed Hawkheart's words off.

"A kit that will grow up and have no problem killing other kits, so why should I care?"He meowed coldly.

Darkpaw stepped forward fur bristling in anger." I would never-"

Eagletalon's tail lashed."Silence!"

Hawkheart sighed tiredly."I'm sorry darkpaw, I….I cannot train you,"

His voice held regret. Darkpaw's tail drooped and she swallowed down her disappointment, voice quiet."Okay"

She felt Hollowpaw's tail brush her shoulder as he tried to comfort her.

Eagletalon turned away with a grunt and a flick of his tail, and into the warrior's den.

"I'm sorry," Hawkheart mewed softly, the dark she-cat simply nodded eyes downcast. He sighed before brushing past the two apprentices signaling for Hollowpaw to follow after him."Come along, you have a lot to learn,"

"Coming,"Hollowpaw mewed before moving closer to darkpaw and lowering his voice."I'll teach you some moves when I get back,"

She gave him a nod feeling a bit better and watched as he and Hawkheart made their way out of camp to train.

Sighing softly she decided to join a hunting had given her some tips but he himself had just started training before being put on punishment, so he didn't have much to offer.

They were lucky to catch a few pieces of prey.

So with heavy paws, she joined one led by Amberblaze and they were on their split up to hunt and Darkpaw went off on her the silence of the night, she could feel her anger beginning to build and unsheathed her claws.

It wasn't fair that eagletalon was refusing to mentor her just because she was a kittypet! A used to be kittypet!

I mean I know kittypets killed his mate but those cats are killers but I'm not a killer!

I'll show him….I'll show him that I don't need him to mentor me to become a warrior! In fact, I'll catch a lot of prey and show him I'm capable without him!

She forced her fur to lie down and took in a deep breath to ease her anger. She wouldn't catch any prey like this. Her anger began to seep away and grow into determination.

Ears perked darkpaw listened closely to the forest for any location of prey to take her mind off of her problem.

A loud rustling nearby had her attention immediately causing her to pause in her pawsteps. She swiveled her ears towards it and when it rustled again she dropped into a crouch and moved as quietly as she could towards the undergrowth.

Darkpaw caught sight of a flash of red. A squirrel perhaps? Deeming her distance far enough she lunged and slammed into something way too big to be a squirrel. The scent that filled her nose was familiar.

Cloudclan?

After patrolling the territory so many times Darkpaw had begun to memorize the scents of each clan. Unsheathing her claws, she dug them into the intruder and hissed. The two wrestled harshly kicking up dirt as they fought.

Darkpaw bared her teeth when she was pinned glaring up at the intruder. Hollowpaw had stated that other clan cats weren't allowed in another clan's territory and if one was found they were to be immediately chased off.

A brownish red tom stared down at her, his face had several small scars, and his ear was nicked.

"What are you doing in ShadowClan territory CloudClan cat!"She hissed feeling her previous anger return fueling her.

The tom didn't look the least bit affected by her tone."Who are you?"

"None of your business!"

"I think I would have seen you before if you were a ShadowClan cat," He grunted and stepped back.'

Darkpaw was on her paws in moments, claws unsheathed and fur bristling. The tom simply ignored her hostile stance and was running a tongue over his paw and then over an ear.

"No really who are you? I've never seen you before, and I would know from the time CloudClan attacked ShadowClan a moon ago,"

"I'm a ShadowClan cat you mousebrain!" Darkpaw snapped before lunging. He seemed to have predicted her attack and simply sidestepped, and retaliated by ramming into her sending the she-cat off of her paws. He pressed his paws onto her chest keeping the she-cat pinned with his weight.

"So predictable," The tom mewed flatly."I would think a Shadowclan apprentice would have more training than this,"

Darkpaw flattened her ears, pride hurt.

"Could you be a kittypet just like that tom that joined us a few moons ago?"He continued."I remember him mentioning that he had littermates, I wouldn't be surprised if this clan of rogues decided to also bring in kittypets,"

Is he talking about Jake?No, it couldn't be Jake is terrified of wild cats.

"So what if I was a kittypet?"She hissed out, tired and frustrated. The tom got off of her and allowed the she-cat to her paws. Darkpaw kept him in her sights in case he tried something and forced her fur to lie flat. Although he had shown that he was more than capable of taking her down.

"Interesting," He mewed observing her."So who's your mentor?"

"Eagletalon," She muttered. He gave a mrrow in laughter.

"Really? What was Raggedstar thinking? That tom hates kittypets!"

Darkpaw bristled.

"How's that funny?"The black she-cat snapped."That tom hates me to the point of refusing to train me or even let OTHER cats train me!"

Stopping the brownish red tom gave her a look cocking his head."Really now?What has Raggedstar done to help?Though she's pretty mouse-brained to give him to you in the first 'll never become a warrior with him as a mentor, You can't force a warrior to mentor someone he hates,"

The black she-cat dug her claws into the ground in anger."Don't you think I know that? And Raggedstar refuses to switch mentors,"Why would Raggedstar give her this tom as a mentor when he obviously hated Kittypets?It wasn't fair, she wanted to be a warrior but if Eagletalon wasn't going to teach her nor allow any other cat to teach her then how was she supposed to do that?

"So nothing then?"The tom had forgotten he was even curled his tail neatly around his paws and stared at her."Well, then what if I teach you?"

Darkpaw blinked at him in surprise before narrowing her eyes."You're from a different clan why would you train me? Not to mention you're also an apprentice,"

He shrugged."I'm bored and honestly, you do have potential to be a strong warrior, though I may be an apprentice right now, my mentor says I'll be a warrior in a few moons,"

Running a tongue over a paw he peered at her."Also, can see you becoming a worthy opponent,"

Darkpaw thought it was sure it was against clan laws to train with another clan cat, but she felt like this was her only option. Darkpaw had a feeling that Eagletalon really did want to keep her from becoming a warrior, and although Hollowpaw stated he was going to teach her some moves, she was sure the large tom would go out of his way to prevent it from happening. Not to mention this CloudClan tom did seem to be pretty strong.

Fine,"Darkpaw agreed. Surely by training with him, she would soon become a warrior.

"Knew you would agree,"He mewed cockily causing her glare at him."Meet me at the dirt path next sunrise,"

Turning away the tom padded towards the undergrowth and gave one last call over his shoulder."By the way the name's Fallenpaw,"

Then he was gone.

"Stay out of Shadowclan territory!" Darkpaw snarled after him before sighing.

I can't tell Hollowpaw about this she thought. If anyone found out what she was doing Darkpaw knew she would be in trouble, but the young she-cat was tired of finding moss, tired of patrolling, tired of nearly getting clawed, she just wanted to learn how to fight like a , she wondered if her brother had joined that tom's clan, before shaking her head at the thought.

He wouldn't join a just wasn't a fighter like these clans demanded. He wouldn't survive.

 **So I think I might start updating two chapters per 3 weeks seeing as it's summer vacation so I'll get started on that. Anyway what do you guys think of the characters?**


	10. Chapter 8

The air was still. Sunpaw observed his prey, eyes following its every feather floated seemingly slowing time. He narrowed his eyes waiting for the perfect moment, body stiff ready to strike.

Now!

He lunged, paws outstretched and claws unsheathed, although he was quite the distance away he felt a surge of satisfaction when his paws batted the feather and pinned it to the ground.

Thunderroar gave a purr. "Good job sunpaw, but remember to keep your tail low,"The young tom nodded his body feeling hot from embarrassment and the praise.

Daisypaw snorted and whispered to Antpaw. "So impressive," She mocked."He caught a Feather, I'm sure that'll feed the clan,"

Sunpaw felt his tail drooped.

Antpaw snickered."Yeah, and even a kit knows to keep their tail low, his tail was so high I'm surprised the feather didn't run away,"

"But what's to expect from a kittypet?"

Their harsh words stung like sharp claws, and Sunpaw felt shamed, his achievement now seemed useless.

He wished that he were back at the den curled up.

Thunderroar grunted and stroked his tail down the younger tom's back."Ignore them, you are doing well,"

Daisypaw let out a cry when she was knocked off her paws by Skypaw who huffed and stared down at her with judging eyes." And every KIT knows to never turn your back on your opponent in a fight," She hissed.

The cream she-cat's surprise was quickly replaced with a glare. Antpaw lashed his tail sneering at the gray and white she-cat. He took a pawstep forward stilling when Roseclaw snapped at them."Antpaw, Daisypaw get back to training and quite gossiping like a bunch of elders!"

Daisypaw got to her paws shaking out her thick fur and giving Skypaw a look that could kill.

"Ï'll make you pay for dirtying my pelt!" She snarled.

Skypaw's ear twitched.

"Come on Antpaw we have better things to do than training with these kits," she sniffed with a lash of her bushy tail. Antpaw turned his nose up."Yeah let's go,"

"Thanks, Skypaw,"He murmured thankful for the other's intervention. The she-cat simply brushed his shoulder with her tail tip.

"No problem," she yawned."She needed to be taken down a bit anyway,"

Sunpaw's whiskers twitched.

"Yeah," He agreed softly,"Another one of her snarky comments and I might have just begged Thunderroar to send me back to camp to care for the elders,"

Skypaw purred."Me too, I'd take grouchy old Acornpool and Thrushheart over Daisypaw anytime,"

Skypaw rolled her eyes."Just because she's the daughter of Blizzardstar, Doesn't mean that she can act like she runs the place,"

Daisypaw was the only kit of their leader Blizzardstar and one of the most stuck up cats he'd ever met. She constantly ordered others around taunted the younger apprentices, always finding ways to get out of her apprentice duties and forcing the others to take them on. The cream she-cat constantly used the excuse that she was the leader's daughter for doing so. And if that wasn't bad enough, the older apprentices were friends with her and did whatever she did!

Through gossip Sunpaw learned that many cats of the clan did not like her, so unlike her mom Daisyheart who was said to be kind and caring. Blizzardstar seemed unaware of his daughter's actions in the clan and spoiled her allowing for the she-cat to have back-up when she didn't want to do something.

"Alright, Sunpaw let's get back to training," Thunderroar mewed." Instead of practicing on hunting posture, let's work on speed,"

He nodded to Leopardpounce who was a fox length away. She scooped the feather into the air, higher than when Sunpaw had been training, and as quick as a flash the large tom was rushing at it. He pushed back on his back legs and sprung into the air. Slamming his paws down he pinned the feather.

Sunpaw blinked jaw-dropped. The amount of speed his mentor exhibited was unlike any he'd seen before. How did the tom expect him to do the same?!

"Unlike the other clans," Thunderroar explained."We don't have much covering to hide us so we usually have to rely on speed, our prey is fast so we need to be faster in order to catch it,"

"It's especially good tactic for when you're hunting birds and one begins to fly away, so I want you to try and catch it in the air,"

Nodding Sunpaw swallowed down his nerves as his mentor padded a few lengths away and scooped up the feather, motioning for him to try. Mimicking the way Thunderroar held his body before he ran, the young tom breathes in deeply before racing towards the floating feather. Once he deemed himself close he lunged.

Sunpaw expected to feel the soft feather beneath his paws, unfortunately, he missed and landed on his paws the feather floating down slowly until it rested on his head.

He stared down at his paws. A tail tip brushed his shoulder ."It's fine,'' His mentor mewed in a soft comforting tone We just need to work on speed,".

"Why don't you try again,"

Backing up the young tom put space in between him and Thunderroar as he once again scooped it into the he took in a deep breath before rushing towards it as quick as he could. When Sunpaw felt it was the right time, the feather closer to the ground this time, he pushed back on his legs and again he misjudged the distance and found himself sailing over the feather.

There was another snicker, but this time Thunderroar was the one to snap. "Daisypaw, Antpaw I wouldn't be laughing since last I heard when you did this training, Antpaw fell into an anthill, and Daisypaw fell into the river,"

That shut them up and Sunpaw held back a laugh feeling a bit better. He didn't want the duo to brace their anger on him later when the warrior wasn't around.

The large tom sighed and glanced at the sky."Looks like it will be night soon, why don't we try again tomorrow?"

"Okay," Sunpaw followed after leopardpounce and Thunderroar as they headed back to camp his ears swiveled back once he heard Daisypaw and Antpaw's names being called.

"And where do you think you're going?" Roseclaw hissed.

Daisypaw sniffed."Back to the clan it's almost nightfall, and I'm tired and hungry,"

"Oh, you poor kit,"Roseclaw's purr was filled with ice."How tired you must be…...from doing nothing!"

Her snarl sent a shiver down his back.

"So here's what we're going to do,"The she-cat continued voice sweetly calm."You two are going to stay back since you didn't train then, you will train now,"

"What?!" Daisypaw whined, "You can't do that!"

"I can," Roseclaw snapped," And if you want to get back to camp anytime soon I would suggest you get started now,"

"But-," Antpaw protested.

"Now,"

Skypaw snickered beside him at the of complaints of Daisypaw became harder to hear the closer they got to camp.

"Serves them right," she mewed to Sunpaw," Those two have been doing nothing but lounging around and gossiping all day,"

Sunpaw agreed quietly, relieved that they would get to camp before the other apprentices.

He would be able to enjoy a piece of prey without keeping an eye out for the two waiting to snatch it away from him.

"Besides with them busy we can enjoy a piece of prey in silence," She sighed and Sunpaw wondered if she had guessed his thoughts."When we get back you wanna share a mouse?" Sunpaw nodded."Yeah I'm hungry and tired from all that training,"

Skypaw's long tail twitched. "Really? I still got a lot of energy!"

"Really? Then you can tend to the elders when we get back," Leopardpounce called over her shoulder. "Since you have so much energy,"

The gray and white she-cat winced. "Me and my big mouth,"

Sunpaw's fur brushed hers giving a sympathetic look"Don't worry I'll help…"

She gave him a soft shove."Thanks,"

The young tom looked to the setting sun on the horizon the closer they got to camp. His mind wandered. What were his sister's doing? Although life with wild cats wasn't as scary as he originally thought, it wasn't easy fitting in, he'd managed to make a friend. Were his they as lucky as he was?

…..

"Soon we'll be able to hunt mice like this," Skypaw mewed contently running her tongue over her lips.

Sunpaw nodded. His belly felt nice and full from the fat mouse they had just shared.

He couldn't wait to hunt his own prey.

"Yeah, but first I have to catch that feather," He sighed."But it's so hard, much harder than I originally thought,"

Maybe if I can improve my speed I could catch it.

But how would I do that?

He rested his head on his paws trying to think. In earlier training he had it easy, patience was the key for some prey but his mentor did mention that speed would also be needed for them if he ever was caught in a chase. The tom had yet to experience hunting, but he had heard that they were pretty fast.

He'd once caught sight of Roseclaw hunting a rabbit during one of his training sessions. The red-furred she-cat ran it down and delivered the killing bite as quick as the breeze.

"I can help you train if you want," Skypaw offered.

"Really?"

She nodded,"I've got plenty of energy to spare and that'll give me a way to get rid of it,"

Sunpaw thought on it for a few moments." ok, but are we going to do?"

She gave him a smirk. "We'll race,"

"Race?" He echoed.

"Yup," The gray and white she-cat nodded."We'll do it at night out of camp from the Stones to the Great Oak and back,"

Sunpaw gulped. He could already feel his muscles yowling in agony.

Skypaw rolled her eyes, and gave a lash of her tail."Oh don't be a mouse, that distance is nothing to us CloudClan cats,"

"Besides with us out of camp Daisypaw and her group won't be able to bother us,"

Sunpaw thought for a few moments. Although he was sure his body was going to be aching for moons, he would have rathered face that than the other apprentices.

"Okay if you think it will help me….."

Skypaw leaned in closer to him, whispering"I don't think, I know,"

"But how do you kn-,"

"Which is why you're always getting in trouble," Stonepaw interrupted padding towards the two. "What kind of mischief are you planning now sis?"

The gray and white she-cat huffed. "I'm not making up any trouble I'm just trying to help my friend,"

Stonepaw rolled his eyes."Sure you are, Sunpaw what is this mousebrain planning?"

"Hey!" She protested only to have her littermate ignore her.

Sunpaw muffled a purr. They reminded him so much of snowflake and princess.

I wonder what their new names are…

He shook his head clearing his thoughts. Hopefully, he would see his littermates soon.

"She's just planning on helping me get faster, I'm having trouble with speed in training…"

The gray tom's eyes narrowed, eyes bouncing from one cat to another in suspicion."If that's all,"

Skypaw rolled her eyes."Yes furball that's all,"

Stonepaw gave a flick of his tail."That better be I don't want to hear about another one of your tricks, like when you put a spider in Daisypaw's fur,"

"I didn't do that," The she-cat mewed innocently."I would never put a spider in your precious sweetheart's fur….."

She gave a lick to her paw."But whoever did do it, is a genius,"

"You did do it, you told me you were going to do it before you did it," Her brother deadpanned shuffling his paws in embarrassment as he avoided his littermates amused gaze." And Daisypaw is not my sweetheart…."

Sunpaw wondered what that was.

"No, I didn't," Skypaw denied once more and flicked her tail."Cmon Sunpaw let's get started on that race,"

He blinked."Right now?"

"Yeah the sooner the better," She mewed."Stonepaw cover for us if anyone asks where we are,"

Stonepaw grunted not meeting her eyes."Whatever, just don't do anything stupid,"

Sunpaw followed after Skypaw quickening his pace to catch up with the eager she-cat's pawsteps as they made their way out of camp,"

"I totally was the cat that put a spider in Daisypaw's fur that day," She whispered proudly when he caught up."And I would do it all over again to get the same reaction I got last time,"

Sunpaw let out a mrrow of laughter, he bet her reaction was hilarious.

"Where are you two going," a voice called, lazy.

Skypaw kept walking.

The young tom paused eyes scanning the territory before looking up at the Stonewatchers where a gray tom with cool blue eyes stared down at him.

He looks like Stonepaw…..Sunpaw thought.

"Just training," Skypaw called back.

The tom yawned."Fine but don't go causing any trouble,"

The gray and white she-cat gave a lazy flick of her tail."Yeah, Yeah, I won't Jayflight,"

Jayflight gave the two a bored gaze his eyes lingering on Sunpaw with an unreadable expression for a few moments.

Sunpaw looked away rushing after Skypaw.

"Who was that?" he murmured glancing back.

"That's my brother Jayflight from an older litter,"The gray and white she-cat explained."He's pretty lazy though, like the complete opposite of me, I have no idea how he became a warrior,"

"Oh,"

"Alright so we'll start from here and run all the way to the great oak and back," She continued."Got it? .Go!"

She was speeding off before he could even process what she had said.

"Hey wait!"He cried out. His paws pounded against the ground as he tried to catch up.

Skypaw only laughed over her shoulder."Your prey's not going to wait for you, now come on!"

Sunpaw was already starting to feel out of breath and yet he pushed on. His partner was already far ahead and showed no signs of slowing.

How was he going to do this every day after training?! His body already was quite the effort to continue rather than collapse like his body wanted.

He needed to do he wanted to complete his training and become a warrior like the others, he was going to need to train to become stronger.

Sunpaw could see the great oak up ahead and nearly breathe in a breath of relief.(If he could have he would but his breath had long ago escaped his lungs,)

He caught sight of skypaw running towards him and she passed him with a wink. "Make sure you touch the tree before you run back you turtle!"

Sunpaw paws felt like they were about to fall off. Slowing as he got closer to the great oak, he gasped for breath greedily taking in air. Pressing a paw against the rough bark, he took in one last deep breath to still his fast beating heart, before turning away and beginning the run again.

 _I'm going to die before I get back_ he he sped forward after Skypaw.

She's probably back at camp already He thought. Where does that she-cat get all her energy from?!

He was a bit slower than before feeling the strain as his body felt as though it was about to collapse.

Up ahead, however, the young tom spotted the gray and white she-cat the moonlight illuminating her gray fur as she stood still watching something. He pressed on curious as to what had made the energetic she-cat to stop, Sunpaw padded forward.

Once he reached her, he sat down on shaky limbs and panted."Skypaw,"He gasped out." Why'd….You...stop?"

"Look over there," She murmured. He followed her gaze. At first, the tom didn't see anything, until he looked harder and spotted a reddish brown tom padding towards the river from the dirt path.

The tom hadn't seemed to notice them and waded through the soft current of the river.

Sunpaw had never seen this tom before.

Could he be a ShadowClan cat?

He gulped his fur standing on end." Who is he? Do you think he's a ShadowClan cat? Should we run back and warn the clan?"

Skypaw didn't look at him her eyes trained on the tom." No, it's just Fallenpaw,"

She began towards the tom."Cmon,"

"What?"

"I need to know why he was in shadowclan territory," She mewed. "You're not supposed to be in another clan's territory,"

The gray and white she-cat made her way towards him with sunpaw in tow following her slowly.

"Fallenpaw," She called as they got closer. The tom's eyes landed on them as he pulled himself from the river.

"Fallenpaw, why were you in ShadowClan territory," The she-cat questioned. Sunpaw gave a wince when he noticed the reddish-brown tom's scars.

Fallenpaw gave Skypaw a blank look.

"And why does it matter where I've been?" he mewed stalking up to the two."But if you must know I was chasing after a rabbit,"

"Why didn't you let it go as soon as it ran over the dirt path!" She mewed aghast ."You know you're not supposed to go into another clan's territory,"

He snorted."I can do whatever I want, And I wanted to catch that rabbit,"

This cat carried an air of arrogance around him, Sunpaw noticed. He had never seen Skypaw so angry, her eyes were narrowed and fur bristling.

"Well seeing as you're unsuccessful," She hissed tail lashing. "Don't do it again or I'll tell weaselthorn,"

Fallenpaw's lip curled and his yellow eyes lit up in anger. Sunpaw shuddered from the intensity and took a pawstep back. The tom looked moments away from striking.

Skypaw held her ground.

It was tense for what seemed like hours. The two apprentices stared each other down muscles stiff.

Sunpaw let out a shaky sigh when the reddish brown tom grunted before shrugging. He padded past Skypaw knocking shoulders with the she-cat.

"I don't care," he murmured softly."It's not like anyone would believe a young kit over the deputies son anyway,"

Her fur bristled as she spun around and snarled."It's against the warrior code!"

Fallenpaw flicked his tail as he made his way back to camp, refusing to respond. Sunpaw caught a familiar scent when he passed and stiffened.

 _Princess? Why does he have her scent on him?_

He spared a glance at the tom's back fear gripping his heart.

I hope he didn't hurt her….or worse.

"And if I were you Skypaw,"Fallenpaw mewed over his shoulder. "I would work on being a strong warrior rather than a nosy kit,"

Her glare burned into the tom's back as he left.

"StarClan, I hate that tom!" Skypaw hissed."He thinks he's so much better and above the warrior code and everyone else when he's not!"

Sunpaw was only half listening, his thoughts jumbled and worried.

 _Was his sister okay?_


End file.
